Naruto of Whirlpool
by Xareh77
Summary: What if Naruto was found by someone who had close ties to his family? What if that person was far older than anyone in the village but didn't look a day over twenty-five? What if this led to a series of events that could shake the very core of Konoha?
1. Finding Family

Prologue

The streets were dark and muddy, the ice cold rain made it even worse as the flickering street lights bore witness to a small blond haired figure, soaked in his own blood desperately trying to seek refuge within night's bosom.

If the street lamps had ears, they would have heard the pained and irregular breaths of the child and the much louder voices of the mob that pursued him. If the lamps had brains, they would wonder what on God's green earth had this child, no older than five, possibly have done to incur the wrath of so many. If the lamps had mouths they would question the child, but would never get a reply as the child himself could never understand why these people hated him so, why, throughout his entire life, the entire village called him things like "Demon", "Monster" or "Murderer", why out of all nights, these people wanted him dead.

The small child ran on, occasionally looking back at his pursuers, hoping they had given up but to no avail. His muscles screamed in agony from the immense build up of lactic acid but the boy ignored it and continued onwards. His arm hung limply and offered no sensations but the child knew that it was not only broken but dislocated from the bashing he received earlier. His other arm was wrapped around his abdomen, hand pressed firmly on his side trying to stop as much blood as possible from gushing out of the gash caused by having a sharp rock kicked at him. The boy would shake his head on occasion, trying to get the wet hair away from his eyes as he ducked through alleys and around houses trying to escape from the people who were soon to become his murders.

A few blocks away, a lone man walked home with an umbrella over his head and carrying a small bag of groceries. The man appeared to be in his late twenties and wore all black, black cargo trousers, black boots, a black t-shirt and a long black, sleeveless over-coat made from what looked like a fusion of denim and flannel. His short black hair was covered by the coats hood and his handsome features were hidden by the hoods shadow.

The solitary figure continued onwards until his ears perked up and saw a small blond haired child stumble out of an alley and collapse face first on the wet ground before scampering to his feet and disappearing into another alley. The man was curious at first wondering what a child was doing at this time of night. His mind went on alert as the voices of angry men filled his ears. He saw a small mob of men rush out of the alley and into the one the boy went into. The man, at first was going to dismiss the incident, but when his olfactory nerves screamed and his brain registered the smell, he instantly dropped everything in his hands as his eyed widened in horror. Blood, he smelled blood. With the ease and grace of a well trained shinobi, the man jumped onto the nearest building and sprinted off in search of the child.

Meanwhile the child in question was still running until he slipped on a flight of stairs and rolled back down violently. He tried getting up but the immense shooting pain in his leg prevented him from doing so. Examining the leg, the boy saw it bent at an impossible angle and it was at that moment he resigned himself to his fate. Tears streamed down his bloodied face as the mob closed in and surrounded him.

"Well, well, well, looks like we finally caught you brat!" one man said venomously.

"Oh, looks like the little shit's hurt himself" another man spat out as the rest of them laughed sadistically.

"How about it lads, wanna see what demon blood looks like?" a third man asked while he took out a flip knife causing the mob to roar in delight.

The man stepped forward, and was about to slash the young boy when there was a loud bang as the knife was shot out of his hand causing the man to howl in pain and grip onto his hand. Suddenly a man with a long hooded over coat dropped in front of the small boy and said two words, "Leave... Now" with so much venom and killing intent that the mob was forced to take a few steps back.

"Oi, who's this creep?" one man asked.

"I dunno. Oi you, get outta the way. We have business with the brat" the man clutching his hand replied.

"Anyone capable of injuring and hunting down a child deserves a death sentence, however if you leave right now then I will overlook this incident" the man in black said.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU KIDDING!?" the injured man said while rushing forward with the balled up fist.

The man in black effortlessly dodged the punch as he grabbed onto the other man's head and shoved it into the stone wall, finally with a burst of chakra, the head was forced further into the wall causing the head to cave in and the wall to crater. The body fell limply onto the ground causing the mob to back up further while several screamed in terror and fled, those were the smart ones.

The remaining five just stared until one of them roared and lunged forward, brandishing a knife.

The man in black let out a low, animalistic growl as a black aura surrounded him and intercepted the attacker.

The child had seen all of this, but the combined exhaustion, wounds and blood loss finally took its toll as the boy slumped to the ground unconscious, the pain filled screams of his attackers ringing in his ears.

Several minutes later the man in black walked under a street light, the small boy cradled in one arm, while the other covered the gash, a dark green glow emanating from it. When he entered under the light, the man finally got a good look at the child's features and nearly dropped the child as his eyes widened with a mixture of utter shock and horror and said, "U-Uzumaki-sama!?"

Chapter 1

Naruto woke up to a room not his own. As he rubbed the sleep from his eyes with his only good hand, the other being in a sling, the events from the previous night flashed in his head causing the small boy to scream in pure terror.

-Half an Hour Earlier-

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!?" a man with short black hair and sapphire blue eyes shouted in utter fury.

"I-I didn't know" replied another man with spiky black hair, an eye of such a dark brown it almost seemed black, while the other was covered with an eye patch, and a pair of orange tinted goggles hanging around his neck.

"Didn't know? YOU DIDN'T KNOW!? THE HELL YOU DIDN'T KNOW! OTHER THAN MYSELF, YOU WERE THE FIRST PERSON OUTSIDE THE IMMEDIATE FAMILY TO VISIT HIM WHEN HE WAS BORN! HELL YOU WERE THE FIRST PERSON OTHER THAN HIS OWN MOTHER TO HOLD HIM AND YOU'RE TELLING ME YOU DIDN'T KNOW!?"

"I-I'm sorry it's just that I...I... Ah fuck it! I couldn't tell you ok. Ever since the incident, the Council's been watching me like a bloody hawk! Every time I step out of the house I felt them watching me and when I would come over to see you their numbers tripled, easily. Every time I came over I wanted to tell you but something in the back of my head kept telling me that if I did, the kid would end up dead, so I didn't ok"

"Uchiha Obito! Do you have any idea of the state I found him in? He had a three inch gash in his side, a broken leg and a dislocated arm that was broken in three places! And that was only the major injuries. WHO DOES THAT TO A FIVE YEAR OLD? Kushina thinks he's dead, I thought he was dead. I bet Minato is having a bloody epileptic fit in his grave right now! If Kushina finds out, I wouldn't be surprised if she turned this whole damn country into a smouldering crater and God help us if his siblings find out!" the blue eyed man yelled.

"YOU DON'T THINK I REALISE THAT!?" now it was Obito's turn to raise his voice, "You don't think I wanted to help him? You don't think that every time I saw him getting beaten up in the middle of the street that I wanted to bash their faces in till they were no longer able to eat solid food? Of course I did. Every time I saw him I wanted to give him a hug and tell him it was alright, that it wasn't his fault! You have no idea how much I wanted to pick the kid up and take him home so he could get a good meal and a place to sleep, where he would feel safe and not have to worry about the day his life would come to an end. Each time I so much as looked at him, I felt the number of eyes watching me increase ten-fold."

"Urgh...you're right. I-I'm sorry for snapping at you, it's just that... all these years I was lead to believe that he was dead. For five years I've been festering in my own guilt and now that I find out he's alive, I feel like those five years have been a complete waste. I told my pregnant wife to leave along with Kushina and the kids when they went back to Whirlpool just because I couldn't stand having her look at me knowing I had failed to save the life of her nephew. I don't even know whether my child is a boy or a girl. Do you have any idea how disgusted I am at myself right now?"

"Don't be" Obito replied with a serious tone, "What's done is done and if anything this has worked out in your favour"

"How so?" the blue eyed man asked.

"Now that you have found Naruto, without any additional help or prior knowledge of his existence, the Council can't do a thing to stop you from taking custody of him, that is, as soon as Hokage-sama is made aware of the situation"

"Wouldn't the Sandaime be in on it?"

"No, as far as I know he thinks you and Minatsu went missing after the attack and that Kushina and the kids are dead" Obito replied.

"You didn't tell him!?" the blue eyed man asked, voice slightly raised.

"Calm down! Like I said every time I thought about helping Naruto, in any way, something in the back of my head told me that if I did he would end up dead, so I kept quiet, but not anymore. I'll find a way to get the Hokage down here personally so you two can meet, I'll probably have Mikoto-chan file an anonymous complaint regarding the estate or someth-" but Obito was cut short when a blood curdling scream was heard causing the two men to immediately run up stairs in a panic.

When they enter the only occupied room they found Naruto sitting up in bed and as soon as he laid eyes on them, he backed into the corner while curling up into a ball constantly repeating, "Please don't hurt me" again and again.

"Shh! Shh! Shhhh! It's okay now, no one's going to hurt you" the blue eyed man replied as soothingly as possible, "Your safe, I promise"

"W-W-Who are you?"

"My name is Makizaki Sazare, Zare for short, I was the one who found you five days ago when those men attacked you" the blue eyed man replied.

"F-f-five days!?" Naruto replied in shock.

"Yes, I was able to fix up your minor wounds as well as your broken leg and the gash in your side, but your arm proved more difficult that's why it's in a sling" Zare replied.

"Oh!" was all Naruto said as he hung his head low.

"Hey, hey, no need to get do down big guy" Obito replied as he reached his hand out, but stopped when Naruto visibly cringed before reaching out again and gently ruffling the boys hair.

Naruto looked up with tears in his eyes as he noticed the...Uchiha!?

"Heh, heh" Obito replied to Naruto's shocked look, "I'm not like the rest of my family, I actually don't have a stick up my rear end like the rest of them do"

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the comment but was cut short when his stomach grumbled loudly causing the boy to blush.

"Well someone's in a good mood" Zare replied, "Come on let's get you something to eat"

Naruto started shifting around despite the pain in his side until Zare interrupted saying, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do you think you're going?"

"I-I thought we were-" Naruto replied meekly.

"No you are not, you keep moving like that and wound in your side will open up again" Zare said.

Naruto hung his head low in dismay until a pair of arms, one under his knees and another behind his back, wrapped around him and lifted him off the bed much to his shock.

"That just mean I'll have to carry you downstairs" Zare said with a warm smile causing the boy to bury his face in Zare's shoulder in an attempt to hide his tears.

Mid way through his meal, Naruto suddenly stopped eating, head hung low.

"Is everything alright?" Zare asked.

"W-why are you so nice to me?" Naruto asked with tears in his eyes.

"It's difficult to explain, but your parents were very dear to me" Zare replied.

"Then why now? Why after so long did you finally decide to help me?" Naruto replied between heavy sobs.

"Oh Naruto, you must understand that for all these years I was told you were dead. If I had known otherwise I would have stopped at nothing to find you" Zare replied as he tried desperately to consol the grief stricken boy.

"So your saying Jii-jii lied to me?" Naruto asked between even harsher sobs.

"No" Obito replied instantly, "The Council lied to all of us. They told the Hokage there was no one to take care of you, in turn leading you to believe you no longer had a family and Zare that you were dead"

"But not anymore. I know we have just met, but you are more than welcome to stay here and I will make sure no harm will come to you ever again" Zare finished.

Naruto suddenly burst into tears as the news washed over him causing Zare to lean down and, much to the surprise to everyone in the room, Naruto leaned in towards Zare causing him to embrace the small boy in a powerful yet comforting hug while gently rubbing the boys back.

After half an hour of trying to calm him down, Naruto finally stopped crying and was able to finish his much needed meal.

After saying goodbye to Obito, Zare returned to the kitchen to find Naruto missing and went in search of him. Finding him in the living room, he noticed the small boy looking at a framed picture on a table. Even though he dreaded it, he felt a sooner rather than later was for the best.

"I see you found the picture" Zare stated, startling the boy out of his trance.

"I-I-I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean t-" Naruto replied frantically.

"It's ok, better you know now rather than later. Do you have any questions?" Zare asked.

"Who are these people and why are the Yondaime and you in here?" Naruto asked.

"*sigh*You might want to sit down for this cause it's going to be a lot to take in" Zare replied while sitting on the couch next to the boy, "This... is your family"

"Wha?" Naruto said in shock.

Zare pointed to a small baby in the arms of a beautiful red haired woman with grey eyes, "That is you and the lady holding you is your mother, Kushina"

Naruto stared at the woman in question and began sniffing as gently stroked her face with a finger and said, "O...Okaa...-san?"

"Yes Naruto, that is your mother" Zare replied as he picked him up and placed him in his lap, wrapping his arms around him and kissing him gently on the back of his head trying to give him comfort while saying, "Let it all out" causing Naruto to burst into tears as all those years of pain and loneliness came pouring out with seemingly no end.

After fifteen minutes, Naruto finally calmed down and smiled warmly at the site of his mother.

"Feeling better?" Zare asked while using a handkerchief to clean up the boys face.

"Uhn-huh" Naruto replied, "Can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me anything you want" Zare replied.

"Is the Yondaime my father?" Naruto said bluntly.

"Wow, that was blunt" Zare said with a hearty chuckle, "And to answer your question, yes he is"

Naruto's eyes lit up in awe at the revelation and said, "Really!" with the biggest smile on his face.

"Is something wrong" Zare asked.

"No it's just... the Fourth was my hero you know. He selflessly sacrificed himself to protect the village from the Kyuubi and saved everyone. Now that I know he's my father it just makes it so much better"

"I'm glad you had this kind of reaction, most people would be enraged at this type of revelation" Zare replied hugging the boy tighter.

"Revelation?" Naruto asked while looking up at the man.

"Discovery"

"Oh" Naruto replied, "Who's this" while pointing to a red haired girl no older than eight.

"That's your sister, Chizuru, the boy next to her with the blond hair and grey eyes is your brother, Takashi, the two boys stand in front of your mother are the twins, Hikaru and Kaoru, although other than the fact that Hikaru has blond hair and Kaoru red, they are completely identical" Zare said as Naruto's eyes danced over the image of his family before settling on the last person unknown person in the picture who apparently had Zare's arm around her shoulder, she too had red hair like his mother, although of a darker shade, and vibrant green eyes.

"Who's this?" he said pointing to the woman.

"That's Minatsu, your mother's sister, and my wife" Zare replied with a hint of both sadness and pride in his voice.

"Y-Your wife!?" Naruto said incredulously, "But if she's mom's sister then does that mean that?"

"Yes Naruto" Zare said as warmly as possible, "That means that I'm your uncle" while giving the boy another comforting hug.

Naruto leaned forward replacing the photo before turning around, burying his face in Zare's chest and softly crying.

Zare continued to comfort the young child until his laboured sobs turned into peaceful breaths announcing the boy's slumbering state. He gently cradled the boy in arms while carrying him up stairs and placed him in the bed the boy woke up in that morning. As he left the room, he made a silent promise to get back at whoever was responsible for ruining this boy's life and to make sure that Naruto would be reunited with his family.

* * *

**Author's notes**

**Wow, I can't believe I finally put this idea on paper. It's been bubbling around in my head for at least four years and it was inspiration from several naruto fan fics that finally linked everything together. I thank the authors for the inspiration. **

**Anyway please to R&R but be kind. This is the first piece of literary work I've ever written outside the education system and would like a bit of encouragement. Also even though I have finished chapter two, I will wait until I finish chapter three before up loading it. **

******I hope you all enjoy as there is A LOT more to come.**

******P.S. I WILL NOT, I REPEAT WILL NOT. TURN THIS INTO A YAOI FAN FIC. NO MATTER HOW MUCH I WANT TO I WILL NOT DO IT. I FEEL THAT IT WOULD BE AN INSULT TO THIS STORY'S MAIN SOURCE OF INSPIRATION (NOT THE ANIME/MANGA IT SELF) AND EVEN IF IT DID GET THEIR OK, I STILL WON'T DO IT BECAUSE THE MOMENT I ENTER THAT AREA OF LITERATURE, THIS STORY WILL INSTANTLY EXCEED THE MA RATING (YES I AM A NAUGHTY BOY)**

**And one more thing, WILL SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT THE HELL LEMONS ARE AND I DON'T MEAN THE FRUIT.**

**Enjoy**


	2. Shadows of Consequence

Chapter 2

The next day, Naruto woke up in the same room he was in the day before. Smiling happily for the first time in his life, he flexed his body gently to see if he could handle more strenuous movement. Not feeling any pain, he slowly made his way to the door and stepped outside to the smell of something wonderful. His stomach grumbled loudly as he slowly made his way downstairs and to the kitchen to find Zare hovering over the stove making what seemed like eggs, sausages, and toast.

Sensing his... nephew, it still felt weird saying that, enter the room, Zare turned around and said, "Good Morning Naruto, I hope you had a good night sleep. Seeing you up and about shows you've healed nicely. Have a seat breakfast is almost ready"

"Good morning Zare-o-o-oji-san" Naruto said meekly then looked down hoping the man who was his saviour and only link to his family would not take offence.

Stunned for a few moments Zare slowly made his way towards the small boy, kneeled down and wrapped his arms around the boy and said as lovingly as possible, "Good morning, my dear nephew"

Naruto buried his face into his uncle's shoulder and sniffed back any forming tears.

After a few minutes, while still in the embrace of his uncle, Naruto smelled something funny and said, "I think something's burning"

Eyes opening widely, Zare immediately released his nephew and rushed to the stove and said frantically, "AHHHHHHH! I burned the eggs!" before throwing the frying pan, contents and all, into the sink and turning on the water, watching it sizzle.

"*sniff**sniff* and I was looking forward to eggs too" he said in a playfully dejected tone.

Naruto couldn't help but laugh at his uncle's antics as he made his way to the table and sat down.

During the meal Zare cleared his throat causing Naruto to look at him and said, "By the way Naruto, the offer I made to you last night is still open. You are more than welcome to come live with me, if that is your wish. This house is actually the family household so technically this house is your Blood Right"

"Can I have a few days to think about it?" Naruto asked meekly.

"Of course you can! There is no obligation what so ever. If you don't wish to move in, I will still support you in any way I can" Zare replied with a warm smile.

"Thank you. Umm...can I ask you for something?" Naruto said softly.

"Naruto, I am your uncle, I am family. You don't need my permission to ask me something. Just ask and I will answer you as best I can" Zare replied trying to make the small boy understand.

"Can you walk me home? After what happened that night, I-I-I don't want to go home alone" Naruto said voice laced with fear.

"It would be an honour Naruto. But first, finish your breakfast" Zare said with a playful grin causing Naruto to chuckle before finishing his meal.

Half an hour later, while Zare was washing up the dishes, there was a knock on the front door to which Naruto replied, "I'll get it" before running off towards the door.

"Oi!" Zare called out to him, "Don't run! Just because you don't feel any pain doesn't mean you're not still healing"

Hearing a familiar voice saying, "Hey Naruto, glad to see you up and about" followed by a round of giggles from his nephew, Zare yelled, "Hey Obito, I'm in the kitchen!"

A few seconds later Naruto rushed back into the room and took his seat while Obito strolled in and said, "So... How's my favourite 'Denizen of the Dark' doing today?"

"Just fine, thank you very much" Zare replied, "And please don't call me that in front of my nephew"

"Nephew!?" Obito replied.

"He found the picture" Zare said.

"Ahhhhh" Obito replied in understanding, "Well it's about time someone told him about his background" then sat next to Naruto and said, "Did you know your dad was my sensei when I became a ninja?"

"REALLY!?" Naruto replied as his face lit up, "Then does that mean I can call you Obito-oji-san?"

"Or Obi-oji like my nephew does" Obito replied with a goofy grin.

"O-O-Obi-oji" Naruto said as his cheeks turned rosy and a happy smile crept across"

Obito just blinked for a few seconds before saying, "Ok, I don't care what people say, this boy is adorable. If you don't take him in then I will" while ruffling Naruto's hair causing the boy to give the same goofy grin Obito gave earlier.

Zare, having seen the whole exchange said, "I swear to God, if there weren't proof saying otherwise, people would think the two of you were related"

"Well excuse me for being a bad influence" Obito replied in mock offence.

"I wasn't saying you were, and speaking of taking the boy in, I asked Naruto during breakfast and he said he wanted a few days to think about it, so I was going to escort him home. You can join us if you want"

"Sure seeing as I'm free for the whole day" Obito replied.

A few minutes later the trio exited the house and began making their way towards Naruto's apartment.

Some fifteen minutes later Obito asked Naruto to run ahead a little bit so he could talk to the boy's uncle and as soon as the boy was ahead enough so as not to be heard but not out of sight, he spoke, "How how much have you told him?"

Understanding immediately, Zare replied, "He knows who his family is and all that but I didn't have a chance to tell him they were still alive. He cried himself to sleep before I could"

"*sigh* You do plan on telling him right?" Obito asked in a protective manner, he had taken a shine to the boy and he was showing it.

"Of course I do!" Zare said clearly offended, "It's just that... if he's anything like his mother, he will stop at nothing at wanting to go see them and if the council is as underhanded as you say you are, I don't want any attention being drawn on the subject. The last thing I need is an international incident to breakout between Konoha and Whirlpool"

"True" Obito pointed out, "and what about the uh *ahem*?"

"You seriously want to take the round-about way to asking me that?" Zare replied with a raised an eyebrow at his friend's immaturity.

"The law is still in effect and we are being followed" Obito said matter-of-factly.

Zare's eyes glazed over for a few seconds before returning to normal and said, "Not anymore and for your information he was part of Root and a Shadow Clone"

"You're kidding!" Obito replied incredulously.

"Are you seriously going to try and doubt me? I swear I will get to the bottom of this if it's the last thing I-OI! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" Zare replied before suddenly rushing forward, completely surprising Obito, who looked ahead to see Naruto was curled up on the ground while a bunch of kids were throwing rocks at him. Obito's blood boiled at the scene in front of him and rushed forward to help his best friend's nephew.

Meanwhile Zare performed a few hand signs causing a wall of shadow to erect itself around Naruto thus protecting him from harm.

"What the hell is wrong with you kids?" Zare said angrily.

"We were just putting the demon kid in his place" one kid said snidely.

"What did you say?" Zare asked menacingly while a black aura flared around him, absorbing all light causing the immediate area to dim.

The children stared in complete horror before Obito placed a hand on his friend's shoulder and said, "Easy there big guy. At the rate you're going, you'll scare these kids to death" causing Zare to calm down then turned his attention to the children and said, "Now scram before I change my mind"

As the children ran off in terror, Zare dispelled the shield around his nephew then picked up the whimpering child while brushing the dirt and dust of his face and as soothingly as possible said, "Shh, shh, shh. It's ok there gone now. No one's going to hurt you"

After a few minutes, Naruto finally calmed down and gave a nasal grunt when asked if he was ok before wrapping his arms around his uncle's neck and buried his face in his shoulder. Zare rubbed his nephew's back soothingly as they continued towards Naruto's apartment.

When they reached the apartment, the two men stared at it stunned. The place had been ransacked, stuff was strewn everywhere, furniture destroyed, walls covered in graffiti and the putrid smell meant that the vandals hadn't stopped there. Zare place Naruto on the ground before clenching his fists in rage before storming off to God knows where.

"Oh dear" Obito replied as his friend stormed off, "Come on Naruto lets catch up to him before he does something reckless" while picking the boy up and running after his friend.

When they caught up with him, Zare was standing in front of the Hokage's Tower, his face still twisted in anger.

"Zare be reasonable, there's no reason for you to-EEEEEP!" Obito squealed as Zare glared daggers at him before running up the outside staircase.

"Oh for God's sake!" Obito said while placing Naruto on his shoulders and running after his friend.

When they reached the top, Zare burst in and immediately began demanding for the Hokage.

"I'm sorry, but he is in a Council meeting right now and mustn't be disturbed" the receptionist said.

"Perfect" Zare replied evilly as he stormed off toward the Council Chambers.

"Oh for- Will you stop for more than five seconds and let me catch my breath! Running up the Hokage Tower with a five year old on my shoulders is not exactly a walk in the park" Obito said in an annoyed tone.

"Sorry" Naruto said sadly.

"There is absolutely no reason for you to apologise" Obito replied while looking up at Naruto, "The reason I put you on my shoulders was, firstly, to make it easier to get up the stairs and, secondly, I thought you might find it fun... Did you find it fun?"

"Yeah" Naruto replied with a playful giggle.

"Good boy" Obito replied while placing Naruto on the ground and taking a hold of his hand as the two of them made their way to the Council Chambers.

Upon reaching the doors, Zare placed a chakra infused foot on the doors, blowing them off their hinges and into the centre of the room. The occupants inside jumped at this sudden outburst as several ANBU appeared and took defensive positions around the Hokage.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, was about to speak when a voice he hadn't heard in almost five years said, "Hello Hiruzen. You're looking well" as the dust settled and Zare stood there with a very displeased look on his face.

"Sazare-kun! What are you-?" the Hokage said before being interrupted by Zare who said, "Relax Hokage-sama, my business is not with you but those traitorous bastards behind you" the latter was said with so much venom and killing intent that several of the ANBU faltered in their stances.

"How dare you accuse us of such ludicrous slander as treachery!?" Utatane Koharu said as she stood up from her seat at the Hokage's side.

"Oh!" Zare said with a sarcastic smirk before his brows furrowed and said, "Then explain how you kept this from me for the past five years" as he stepped to the side revealing Obito and Naruto standing just outside the doorway with Obito holding onto Naruto's hand.

Upon seeing this, Uchiha Fugaku, current Uchiha Clan Head, stood up and said, "Obito, what the hell do you think you're doing!?"

"Cram it Fugaku! I've had it with your damn superiority complex and arrogance. If it weren't for your constant suppression, this child would have had a much better life" Obito said angrily his Sharingan active.

Fugaku was completely taken aback by his wife's cousin. He never spoke to him like this even if he was the closest to the family, so this sudden change in attitude clearly showed he meant business.

"What is the meaning of this?" Mitokado Homura said while standing up, "We were told you were missing. How could we have possibly have contacted you?"

"Don't you feign ignorance with me!"Zare said menacingly, "I've been in this village for the past five years. It was you who told the Hokage I was missing. It was you who led me to believe Naruto had died! I T WAS YOU WHO TOLD NARUTO AND THE HOKAGE THAT THE BOY'S MOTHER AND SIBLINGS WERE DEAD!"

The Hokage and his advisors stared dumbfounded and confused as Zare stood there seething with fury, a pulsating black aura surrounding him, before crying could be heard and everyone turned to find coming from Naruto.

Obito quickly knelt down in front of the crying boys and said, "Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong big guy?"

"M-m-my ears hurt" Naruto said between sobs.

Zare instantly calmed down as Obito hugged the boy and said, "Awww, come on lets go and get something to eat. Your uncle will join us as soon as he's done fixing this mess" then picked up his friends nephew and made his way out of the building.

Once confident that they were out of sight, Zare's anger returned as he glared at the two advisors as if asking what they had to say for themselves.

The Hokage turned and looked at his two advisors as Zare detected a near insignificant spike in chakra, consistent with a spike in emotion and acted. Before anyone could blink a man sitting in the corner of the room was wrapped in a thick black tendril, emerging from his own shadow, and was brought in front of Zare.

The Hokage turned to find Danzo, leader of Root, hanging in front of Zare wrapped in a black tendril.

"Sazare-kun, what is the meaning of this? Put Danzo down" the Hokage said.

"He knows something and I intend to find out" Zare said as he placed his index and middle finger on the man's forehead and both their eyes glazed over. A few minutes later Danzo collapsed on the floor panting as Zareh glared at him angrily and said, "It was you. You're the one who deceived the Hokage. You're the one who lied to me, to my family. You're the one who RUINED NARUTO'S LIFE" while planting a hard kick in Danzo's side.

The Hokage, temporarily dazed by the sudden revelation, gained a fierce expression and said, "All ANBU are to uncover their left shoulder immediately!"

Two of the five ANBU still had their shoulder covered and were the subject of Zare's wrath. With a flick of his wrist, Zare summoned two tendrils from the two ANBUs' shadows, had them wrap around their necks and squeeze hard until an audible crack was heard before dissipating them and letting the two masked ninjas fall to the ground dead.

"*sigh* I have no idea how things got like this, but I hope that what I do next will help me atone for the wrong doings against that poor boy" the Hokage said before his face turned stern and said, "ANBU! Arrest Danzo under suspicion of high treason, I want him taken to Ibiki and drained like a ripe orange...and let Ibiki know, he can have his way with him"

"Hai, Hokage-sama" one of the ANBU replied while the other two picked up the unconscious man and all four of them disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"I thank you for your gesture Hiruzen, however you must understand that unless you were directly responsible, I would never hold you on account" Zare said his expression much calmer than usual, "Although, if you still feel guilty, there are two things you can do. Once agreed upon, consider yourself redeemed"

"First, I want full custody of Naruto handed over to me, second once you are finished with Danzo, I wish to pass final judgement as the current Uzumaki Representative in Konoha" Zare said followed by a deep sigh.

"Consider it done. I shall come over tomorrow with the necessary forms" the Hokage replied as he too let out a deep sigh.

"Thank you Hokage-sama" Zare said while giving a respectful bow, "Now if you excuse me I have a luncheon with my nephew" then turned to leave, but before exiting the chambers, Zare turned his head to one side and said, "Thank you for taking care of my nephew Hiruzen, you have my eternal gratitude" then swiftly left the Council Chambers.

"You are most welcome" the Hokage said before the entire chamber went into an uproar, many of the clan heads demanding an explanation while many of the civilian representatives expressed their displeasure at the intruders requests.

"Enough!" the Hokage yelled in an attempt to bring order, "The Uzumaki Representative in Konoha holds more influence in this room than every single one of you combined. His orders are absolute! Final judgement over Shimura Danzo as well as full custody of the individual known as Uzumaki Naruto will be handed over to the individual known as Makizaki Sazare, do I make myself clear" before scribbling on a sheet of paper, signing it, stamping his seal on it twice, rolling it up and making it disappear in order to be filed away in the village archives.

Half an hour later, Zare stepped into Ichiraku Ramen where, sure enough, he found his best friend and nephew literally inhaling the noodles in broth.

"I swear to God the two of you are related" Zare said startling the two of them out of their trance.

"What can I say?" Obito said with a goofy grin, "I'm a bad influence"

"Indeed you are" Zare said while taking a seat, "and please tell me that my nephew is still on his first bowl of ramen"

"Nope third" Obito said before returning to his meal.

"Good God you're going to kill him" Zare said before turning to the man behind the bar and said, "Two Miso Ramen please... for a start. Oh and he's paying" while pointing at Obito who just stared wide eyed in horror, noodles hanging out of his mouth, at his best friend and getting an evil grin in return.

Several hours later, the trio were walking back to Naruto's apartment, with Naruto sitting on Zare's shoulders while Obito followed, tears streaming down his face at his now empty wallet.

When they reached the apartment, Zare put Naruto down and said, "This place is a tip, come on Obito help me clean up" while beginning to pick stuff off the floor.

"Wait" Naruto said then ran off into the back of the apartment and returned several minutes later with a large stuffed toy frog and a back pack before saying, "I wanna go home"

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**yay chapter 2 is up, that means chapter three is finished. (Round of applause) **

**Anyway, before we go into more trivial matters, I just wanted to say thank you to all those who checked out, added to favs, and or reviewed my story. I know it seems pointless but I'm sure all of you know how it feels when your a first time writer and your story get praised. So as an added treat I've up loaded chapter three in advance.**

**Enjoy**

**P.S. No yaoi**

**P.P.S Be gentle with the reviews, I still be n00b.**


	3. Painful Memories

Chapter 3

Several days later, Zare had been officially recognised as Naruto's guardian and the uncle and nephew began their life as a family.

While cleaning up after breakfast, there was a knock on the door and Naruto ran off to answer.

"Obi-oji!" came Naruto's excited reply followed by, "Who's this?" and an unfamiliar but shy voice saying, "Hi"

Hearing a hearty chuckle from his friend, Zare turned to see Naruto rush into the kitchen followed by Obito who had a small boy, about the same age as Naruto and looked similar to Obito, hiding behind his leg.

"Sasuke! Don't be rude" Obito said causing the small black haired boy to step out of hiding.

"Sasuke, I'd like you to meet Naruto and his uncle, Zare. Naruto and Zare I'd like you to meet my nephew, Sasuke" Obito said.

Zare greeted the young boy causing him to retreat behind his uncle while Naruto stared, confused, at the boy's actions.

"I felt that since Naruto was going to be living with his uncle now, I'd spare him the grief of living with an old man and brought someone along for him to play with. Besides my nephew needs to learn to kick back and just have some fun every once in a while instead of training all the time" Obito said.

"Hey! I am not that old" Zare said in mock hurt.

"Says you" Obito replied.

When he looked at his nephew, Zare saw he was barely able to contain his excitement so with a sigh followed by a chuckle he said, "Go on then"

Naruto squealed in delight before grabbing onto Sasuke's hand and literally dragging the poor boy up stairs.

Once the sound of a door closing was heard, Zare sat opposite Obito handing him a cup of tea and said, "Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to him"

Obito simple chuckled warmly as he took a sip.

Suddenly Zare's face turned solemn as he bluntly said, "Naruto said he wanted to become a ninja"

Obito, thinking nothing of it, simple said, "So, Sasuke wants to do the same thing, although Sasuke's already started with a family tutor, he will be joining the academy in a year's time. Just enrol Naruto then"

"He wants me to train him" Zare replied.

"*cough cough* WHAT!?" Obito said.

Zare simply nodded and retold the conversation he had earlier with his nephew.

It was in the middle of breakfast when Naruto looked up at his uncle and said, "Zare-oji-san?"

"Yes?" Zare replied.

"I want to learn how to become a ninja"

"That's great Naruto I'm glad you're taking an interest in the uh... well I guess you could call it family business. I'll go down to the academy tomorrow and sort out your admission, but you will have to wait another year until you are old enough"

"No I want to learn now and I want you to teach me" Naruto said almost pleadingly.

"Naruto I'm not exactly the best of teachers and my methods can be a bit unnerving" Zare replied.

"Unnerving?"

"Scary"

"I don't care. I wanna learn, especially that black barrier you used when you protected me from those bullies" Naruto said.

"The Shadow Wall Technique is not something I can teach you" Zare stated.

"Why not?" Naruto said in almost a whine.

"Because it's an ability he borrowed from me" replied a feminine voice that seemed to come from nowhere and seemed to hold an air of authority.

"W-W-W-Who said that?" Naruto said slightly scared.

"I did" came the voice as a black hole opened on Zare's chest and a large black house cat, with a black mist rolling of its fur, jumped out then sat in the middle of the table.

"Umbrea! What have I told you about showing up unexpected? Although, I do appreciate you coming out in this form, the last thing I need is my nephew being plagued by nightmares for the next five months." Zare said.

"What? The kid asked a question, it would be rude of me as a lady not to answer" Umbrea replied as she pointed a paw towards the boy.

"Well be more careful next time. Look he's already speechless" Zare said gesturing towards his nephew.

Turning her head to look at the boy, she noticed he just looked at her wide eyed, mouth hanging open, "Oh for- if this child wants you to train him, he will learn nothing if he freezes up every time he looks at mEEEEEE"

Suddenly Umbrea was grabbed by Naruto and was nearly crushed to death as the small blond hugged her tightly and squealed, "SHE'S SO CUTE~"

Meanwhile, Umbrea struggled to get out of the child's embrace and said "Nya! Let go of me! Mrr this is no way to treat a lady! LET GO OF ME BEFORE I-mew" before Zare dragged her out of the boys embrace by the scruff of her neck causing her to curl up like a normal cat would.

"Don't you 'mew' me. You were begging for him to do that and you know it" Zare said.

"Tch" Umbrea replied as her brows furrowed and folded her front paws in displeasure until Zare placed her in his lap and began scratching behind her ears.

Once everyone had calmed down Naruto looked at Umbrea and said, "So who are you?"

"My name is-ooooo right there purrrr" Umbrea started until Zare scratched in just the right spot, "*ahem* My name is Umbrea Nocturnus, Umbrea being my first name, shape shifter extraordinaire and last of the Shadow Clan"

"How come your the last?" Naruto asked.

"An inquisitive bundle of energy isn't he?" she said looking up at her retainer.

"Just answer the question" Zare said.

"*sigh* Fine! I don't want to go into too much detail but long story short some two thousand years ago, my clan was brutally slaughtered , your uncle, a palace guard at the time, shielded me from what would have been a fatal strike and took the brunt of the attack. When I came to, I found your uncle next to me drowning in his own blood, his life slowly fading. Touched by this man's bravery and realising I was the last of my kind, I decided to sacrifice myself in order to save my now dying protector. However, while performing the life transfer ritual, something happened that resulted in me being sealed within you uncle's body. Though I am free to roam around as I please, if we are forcefully separated we will both die" Umbrea explained in a solemn tone.

"Now I know it's quite a bit to take in, but you must promise me never to tell others the truth about me. Other than you there are a few select others I could trust with this information and they are your parents, my wife, the Sandaime, Obito and Obito's former teammate Hatake Kakashi who is a dear friend of mine. Those few outside my circle of trust, who know about Umbrea, think she's a summoning beast, while those who have only seen me use her abilities think that they are part of my Kekkei Genkai or Bloodline Limit" Zare said.

"So wait, you're two thousand years old!?" Naruto said incredulously.

"Well he certainly took it better than his parents did, and they took it even better than your wife did" Umbrea said before jumping up onto the table and for some odd reason split her tail in two then said, "And for the sake of accuracy we are two thousand one hundred and twenty-seven years old"

Naruto's jaw dropped at the information and did a double take when he saw Umbrea's two tails causing her to innocently say, "What? I'm a shape shifter, staying in one form for too long bores me"

"Naruto, are you sure your ok with everything you've been told?" Zare asked with a concerned look in his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think its kinda cool" Naruto said with a grin before continuing with his meal.

Umbrea, slightly shocked at Naruto's response, looked at her retainer and though, "He most certainly won't have that kind of opinion when he finds out the truth about himself"

To which Zare mentally replied, "That he most certainly won't" and continued with his meal.

"So in the end what did you tell him?" Obito asked after hearing the whole story.

"I agreed" Zare said in an unhappy tone, "We start day after tomorrow"

"Okay, but I don't see why you're so reluctant to do this" Obito replied.

"It's not that I don't want to teach him, it's just... I don't want a repeat of what happened last time" Zare replied.

"Listen" Obito replied, "You had no idea he would grow up to murder his entire clan before killing himself. You have got to stop beating yourself up over every single mistake you make in life and besides you said that was over five hundred years ago its ancient history. You are probably the only person on this planet who even knows about it"

"Yeah, I guess your right" Zare said with a deep sigh.

"Damn right I am" Obito said with a goofy grin then bent down to look under the table and said, "Hello Umbrea, you're looking glamorous as usual"

Hearing that, Umbrea made her way back onto the table and said, "Flattery will get you nowhere young one, though I do appreciate the compliment. Now give kitty some loving!" to which both laughed as Obito began scratching under her chin.

"Oooooooo" Umbrea said while Obito scratched, "For a man of your age, you sure know how to please a woman" causing both men to sport vivid blushes.

Several minutes later, Naruto ran downstairs with Sasuke, hot on his trail, as the two of them ran through the kitchen and made their way out into the backyard.

As the days went on, Naruto began training under Zare to become a shinobi. During the day Zare would lead Naruto through several workout regimes to help build stamina and muscle power while at night, using a special mental link, Zare taught Naruto how to mold and manipulate chakra in his dreams but never taught him any techniques until after the boy started school, and to top it off Naruto's friendship with Sasuke flourished. The two became inseparable as they would always be together whenever they had free time and would occasionally sleepover at each other's houses, although it was more a case of Sasuke coming over than Naruto going over for obvious reasons.

As a year went by the boy's, as they came to be known by Zare and Obito, began their schooling at Konoha Ninja Academy, although Naruto was told to hold back a little to avoid unnecessary glares and taunts, and were thrilled when they found out they were classmates. However all that changed a few weeks later.

It was an unusually cold night when Obito returned from his latest mission. For some reason, something in the back of his mind kept telling him he needed to leave and stay away for as long as possible, so he did the natural thing any shinobi would do, he asked for a mission. The day he felt this uneasiness, he marched into the Hokage's office and demanded a lengthy mission. Not one to deny, the Hokage searched through the files and found a two month mission in Iwa. At first put off by the idea, when told this was the lengthiest mission available, Obito was quick to agree. Leaving the Hokage's office, Obito quickly made his way to his best friend's house in order to get his help in shedding light on this incessant nagging in the back of his head.

"You're paranoid" Zare said as he poured himself another cup of tea.

"I can't help it. I keep getting this nagging thought in the back of my head that's constantly telling me to leave the village to leave the village to leave the village before it's too late" Obito replied, distress flooding his voice, as he buried his face in his hands, "I thought by taking a lengthy mission this feeling would disappear, but it's still there. I seriously don't know what to do"

Thinking the man was pulling one of his pranks again, Zare was simply going to humour him, but after realising the sheer amount of distress in the man's voice, he decided to help. Summoning a black tendril from his own shadow, Zare had it drop an item into his own hand then dissipate before stepping forward and dangling it in front of Obito.

"Here take this" Zare said causing Obito to look up and see a black translucent crystal in the shape of a hexagonal prism attached to a thin leather strap making the whole thing look like a pendant.

"What is it?" Obito asked while taking hold of the pendant and examining it closely.

"It's a special crystal made from Umbrea's own blood. Just pour a little bit of chakra into it and call out to me in your head and I will be there no matter how far away you are" Zare said with a smile.

Deciding to try it out, Obito held onto the crystal as he poured a little bit of chakra into it and thought, "I hope this really works" and much to his surprise Zare smirked and said, "Of course it works. Who the hell do you think I am?"

Staring wide eyed, Obito thanked his friend of fifteen years and swiftly left to prepare for his mission.

As Obito walked into the Uchiha Compound, he instantly realised that it was quiet. Sure it was almost nine in the evening, but surely there would be some form of sound to be heard. However that wasn't the case. As he entered his house, he called out to his parents, but there was no answer. Checking all the rooms, he found the house empty and quickly proceeded to check the neighbour's house, but that too was empty. Activating his Sharingan, he turned around and what he saw nearly made him fall over backwards. His heart rate sky-rocketed, as he looked around and saw... nothing. There was not a single chakra signature for as far as his enhanced vision could see.

"How is this possible?" he thought as a sense of dread mixed with minor panic filled him. Returning to his house, he grabbed a hold of his katana, unsheathed and exited the building.

Walking down the streets, his eye soaked in everything until it finally noticed a faint blue glow.

"There's someone here" Obito thought as he rushed towards the source. He noticed a funny smell in the air, but no matter how much he tried he couldn't seem to place it. The smell gained in potency as he came closer to the source and when he turned the corner, he stopped dead in his tracks, eye wide in horror.

There was blood everywhere, on the walls, on the roofs, splattered across lanterns, trickling like water across the ground, it was like someone had set up a massive paint bomb and detonated it, but that wasn't all. Accompanying the blood, were bodies, bodies strewn about like much discarded paper, it was like someone cut them down and just tossed them aside. Obito steeled himself from vomiting as he suppressed his chakra to almost untraceable levels and continued onwards, taking care not to step on a possible loved one. Proceeding as if on automatic, Obito jumped when he heard a scream shortly followed by a door opening and quickly ducked into an alley. Obito pressed himself against the wall to keep him within the shadows and using the peripheral vision of his eye, tried to analyse the chakra signature of his family's murderer. Obito had to stifle a gasp as he instantly recognised the signature. There was only one person who has chakra that vibrant who wasn't already dead or past their peak and that was Itachi. Trying to get his breathing under control, Obito subconsciously grabbed onto the pendant his friend gave him and prayed to God that he would not be noticed, and for once his prayers were answered. Itachi simply turned in the opposite direction Obito was in and continued onwards until he stopped, he spoke for a moment uttering words Obito's over worked mind could make no sense of and was followed by an ear piercing scream, the scream of a child, of a child he knew very well.

Leaping out of his hiding place brandishing his weapon, Obito ran as fast as he could towards the source of the scream and at the top of his voice yelled out, "SASUKE!!!!!"

Zare had just tucked Naruto in after a full days training and was on his way to his room when an ear splitting scream resounded in his head yelling, "SASUKE!!!!!" causing the man to grab onto his head as he screamed in pain, doubled over then collapsed. Fearing for her retainer's safety, Umbrea leapt out of Zare's back in the form of a black panther, senses on high alert as Naruto rushed out of the room to see what had happened. Helping his uncle up, Naruto noticed the man's breathing was extremely laboured, his eyes were blood shot and small trickle of blood had emerged from his nose. Before Naruto could say anything Zare steadied himself on the banister and said, "Sasuke's in trouble. I'm going on ahead. You go get ready and come with Umbrea, NOW GO!"

Naruto immediately rushed downstairs followed by Umbrea while Zare performed a few hand seals causing his shadow to darken and expand around him as several tendrils wrapped themselves around him and dragged him in.

Meanwhile Obito was trying desperately to fend off the thirteen year old who had just murdered, nay butchered, almost his entire family, but with very little success. The pubescent boy in front of him was a prodigy that surpassed all others, so the fact that Obito was still fighting him meant he was being toyed with, then, as if on cue, Itachi knocked Obito's sword out of his hand grabbed him by the neck and raised his sword above his head.

Obito stared at the sword in pure terror until he noticed an ominous black shadow appear behind the young teen. In the fraction of a second, the shadow performed an aerial round-house to the boy's raised arm which then collided with the boy's head and was sent flying into a nearby house. Obito looked up to find Zare standing there, a very angry look plastered on his face as he stared in the direction Itachi had flown off in.

Suddenly becoming aware of two other presences arrive, Zare, still staring intently at the massive hole in the house in front of him said, "Naruto...NARUTO"

"Huh? Yeah? Wha?" the blond replied.

"Pay no attention to it. Grab hold of Sasuke and get out of here. Umbrea keep an eye on them, I am lifting all restrictions, protect them with your life"

Voicing her acknowledgement Umbrea made her way towards Naruto as he picked up his best friend and the duo promptly leapt out of the compound and towards safety.

Once confident they were out of site, Zare turned his attention toward Obito and said, "Obito, go look for any survivors, I'll take care of things here"

Obito was about to protest when Zare interrupted him and said, "Don't underestimate the power of a two thousand year old shinobi"

Obito inwardly thanked the man for saving him and quickly looked around with his Sharingan until he noticed a rapidly fading chakra signature and quickly made his way towards it.

Noticing movement from within the hole, Zare saw Itachi step out from within holding onto his arm which was bent at an awkward angle.

"Itachi" Zare said, literally spitting the name out of his mouth, "What is the meaning of this?"

"This" Itachi said as he chuckled casually, "Let's just say I was testing my limits" then activated his eyes.

Sensing Itachi was about to use a Genjutsu on him, Zare yelled out "Mukogan!" causing his pupils to dilate until they spread across the entire eye leaving two black orbs of empty darkness and rendered the Genjutsu useless.

Itachi, temporarily stunned at his failed attempt to cast a Tsukuyomi, forgot to dodge when Zare appeared next to him and performed another round house sending the young man tumbling into the middle of the street. Zare then performed several hand seals and called out, "Fuuton: Tempest Thrust" before performing a downward motion with the palm of his hand causing a massive force of wind pressure to fall upon Itachi resulting in the ground around him forming a large crater as blood spewed out of his mouth. Not one to leave a job unfinished, Zare summoned a large black scythe and went in for the finishing strike before the space around him seemed to contort and spiral inwards as Itachi was sucked into an invisible portal and disappeared. From out of nowhere a man with short spiky black hair, a black cloak with red clouds on it and an orange mask with one eye hole and a spiral pattern on it appeared and said, "Well, well, well, look what we have here, an ancient relic fighting a thirteen year old boy. Oh, how the mighty have fallen"

Though not recognising the figure itself, Zare did recognise the voice and with an evident snarl said, "What are you doing here Madara?"

"Oh you know me" the masked man replied, "Just popping in to say hello. Now if you will excuse me" before switching to a high pitched raspy voice saying, "Tobi was sent by Ero-hebi-sempai to collect Scary-face-sempai. Tobi is sorry if you still wanted to talk to Scary-face-sempai, but that doesn't Tobi isn't a good boy" followed by the man fading away into thin air.

Zare snarled at the place the masked man was standing before tilting his head up towards the heavens and yelling, at the top of his voice, "MADARAAAAAA!!!!!!"

Meanwhile Obito rushed into the house where the fading chakra signature was, and stopped immediately as he stared at the sight in front of him. The lifeless corpse of his cousin's husband was slung over her body as he drenched her in his blood. Obito rushed forward for what seemed like an eternity until he reached the couple's bodies and gently eased the man's corpse off his cousin and cradled her in his arms.

The woman, barely clinging on to life slowly opened her eyes and said, "O-Obito?"

"Yes Mikoto-chan, I'm here. It's alright now. Everything's going to be alright" Obito replied tears streaming down his face.

"P-please promise me something" Mikoto said through heavily laboured breaths.

"Anything" Obito replied, "Just name it"

"Please, please watch over Sasuke for me. Watch over my little baby. Make sure he grows up to be strong and happy. He meant the world to me, I just wish I told him more often" Mikoto said as her breaths became even more laboured.

"Of course, Mikoto-chan. You don't have to worry. I promise I'll watch over him" Obito replied through suppressed sobs.

"Thank...you" was all Mikoto said as she slowly closed her eyes, a smile crossed her face and she faded from the living world.

Obito cried uncontrollably as his Sharingan made his body remember the seals that had, literally, cost him his eye and his mind wandered to the events surrounding it.

It was just after Kakashi and himself rescued their teammate, Rin from the hands of a bunch of Iwa-nin, when due to an act of carelessness, one of them survived and caused the cave to collapse in on its self. The trio would have been crushed if it were not for Zare, who had been trailing them, using a pair of large shadow claws to swat the boulders aside like they were cotton.

Several minutes later, Rin was trying desperately to heal Kakashi's injured eye, but to no avail.

"Why isn't it working!?" a young Obito asked.

"I can't stop the bleeding there's just too much blood forcing its way out" Rin replied.

"What about you Makizaki-sempai?" Obito said.

"The eye is too badly damaged. The lens has been split in two and has detached itself from the ciliary body. The only way to fix it is to either get him in an operating room immediately or get him a replacement eye" Zare said as his Mukogan stared through Rin's hands and directly into the contents of the eye itself in order to assess the damage.

After a few short seconds, Obito looked at Rin and said, "Use mine"

"What!?" the young kunoichi replied as she briefly looked at her teammate before turning her attention back to her fallen comrade.

"I said use mine, give him one of my eyes if it means he'll live"

Rin looked at Obito incredulously before turning to Zare and saying, "Makizaki-sempai!"

"I'm having no part in this" Zare said, "You're the medical-nin on this team, it's your call"

"Ugh, fine!" Rin said, "Makizaki-sempai, you try an control the bleeding, I'll get to work on Obito's eye"

Nodding in acknowledgement, Zare took over for Rin as she began preparing Obito for the surgery.

Obito was, somehow, able to stay conscious as his remaining eye took in the whole procedure and burned it into memory.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**Hmmmm, not much to say here, I already said most of it in chapter 2. besides it's 11 at night I've been up since 5.30 and I'm tired.**

**Scratch that, I just remembered, if anyone thinks that the Massacre scene shares many similarities to Fenrir of the Shadows' 'Twilight of the Thunder God' please rest assured I asked him before I even wrote chapter 1 and he gave me his full support as well as some tidbits regarding Obito. So if and/or when they pop up later on you will already know why.**

**Oh wait, I almost forgot, since I released chapter 3 early there will be a slightly longer wait until the next update because I want to finish chapters 4 and 5 first before doing anything else.**

**Enjoy.**

**P.S. Me no do yaoi, even though me want to so badly, that don't mean me not be a good boy. **


	4. The Strength to Say 'Goodbye'

Chapter 4

A few days later, Obito woke up to a room not his own. Getting out of bed, feeling a little woozy at first, he began to make his way out of the room. Passing by a mirror, he had to do a double take before nearly collapsing from the shock. He was looking at himself with a full pair of eyes, gone was the eye-patch, gone was the empty eye-socket, gone was the lack of depth perception, here he was staring at himself with a full set of eyes so dark a brown they looked almost black and it was then the events of that fateful night replayed itself in his head. The blood, the bodies, the absolute carnage, then there was Itachi, the man who slaughtered his own family, the butcher who rendered the entire Uchiha Clan countable on one hand and finally there was Mikoto along with the promise he made with her as she resisted death through sheer force of will.

"Watch over Sasuke for me" Mikoto's words echoed in his head as he hung his head low and a few sparse tears fell.

"Sasuke" Obito thought to himself before realising he didn't know where his nephew was.

Rushing out of the room, he felt a certain sense of familiarity as he slowed down and cautiously began making his way. This definitely wasn't his house and yet...

"Obito! You're awake!" came a familiar voice that made Obito nearly jump out of his skin.

Turning around rapidly, Obito looked to see a pair of sapphire blue eyes, short spiky black hair and lightly tanned skin.

"Z-Zare?" Obito said as his mind finally recognised his friend's face.

"The one and only" Zare said with a grin, "Nice eye by the way"

Obito subconsciously caressed the lower eyelid of his new eye as he followed his best friend into the kitchen of what he finally realised to be the Uzumaki Household.

As Obito sat at the table, Zare poured him a cup of tea then leaned against the counter and said, "So I'm guessing you want me to bring you up to speed right?"

Several minutes later, Obito looked up at his friend and said, "So you're telling me that just before you could land a finishing blow on Itachi, he used a transportation scroll and escaped"

"Yeah... After I found you, I sent a shadow clone to alert the Hokage. In fact he left five minutes before you woke up" Zare replied, knowing full well he had just lied to his best friend, but it had to be done, Madara was a very dangerous man and he didn't need the village going into a panic over it.

"What did he say?"

"He came to give me an update on the manhunt. Almost every Jounin and ANBU team is looking for him so to compensate I've sent my Shadow Clones to run village security and activated Umbrea's Shadow Eye Network, if anything gets within fifteen feet of the village walls I will know about it. The Hokage already locked down the village and he was generous enough to place three ANBU teams on guard around this house twenty four seven. Unfortunately, for us, that means that until the danger alert dies down, the four of us are not allowed to leave this house alone. If there is an absolute necessity then the four of us will go together otherwise my Shadow Clones will do it for us" Zare explained.

After hearing this Obito buried his face into his palms and with an audible sigh said, "How could this have happened?"

When Sasuke woke up, he was in a room he felt he knew quite well but wasn't his own. Groaning slightly, he began to stir when he felt something heavy on top of him. Looking forward he noticed a large black furry mass with a dark mist rolling off its body.

"Umbrea-san?" Sasuke said causing the black mass to look up at him in the form of a cat.

"Sasuke!" she said softly, "I'm glad you're awake, we were starting to get worried. A certain blond bundle of energy hasn't left your side since we brought you back here"

As she moved to one side, Sasuke saw a small blond with whisker marks sleeping peacefully in a chair with his head resting in his arms which were laying on the bed.

Making her way over to the blond, Umbrea gently shook the blonds head and said, "Naruto...Naruto wake up"

Stirring from his sleep, Naruto looked sleepily at the now feline shape shifter and groggily said, "Um-chan?"

"Don't call me that" Umbrea replied as she lightly swatted the boy over the head, "besides we have more pressing matters to attend to" while pointing a paw towards the raven haired boy.

Sleep vanishing immediately, Naruto looked at the young Uchiha before leaping into the boy and grabbing him in a tight hug while saying, "Sasuke! Your alright!" as tears began to fall silently from his eyes.

Sasuke, temporarily stunned by the sudden assault, slowly wrapped his arms around the boys back.

Grip getting tighter on his best friend, Sasuke felt an uncontrollable rush of emotion as he buried his face in Naruto's shoulder and began to cry.

Zare and Obito were still talking about future prospects, when suddenly they heard crying and rushed up stairs to find their respective nephews in a tight embrace, crying their eyes out.

Obito, unable to hold back, took a few steps into the room and said one word, "Sasuke"

The boy in question quickly looked up and upon seeing his uncle, his body went limp as a wave of relief and unbridled joy filled his entire being and a renewed stream of tears cascaded down his face.

As Obito approached his nephew, Naruto retracted his arms as Sasuke fell into his uncle's embrace and held on tight as Obito lifted his nephew off the bed and gently caressed the back of the boy's head in an attempt to calm him down.

Half an hour later, Sasuke finally regained his composure. Looking up at his uncle, the boy was shocked at the man's appearance.

Obito chuckled lightly as he looked at his nephew and said, "A gift from a mutual loved one"

Sasuke understood and left it at that.

As the days went on the danger alert was lifted, but Sasuke and Obito stayed with Zare and Naruto and to say things livened up was a huge understatement.

Naruto woke up earlier than usual, considering it was a weekend, due to a dull repetitive thumping noise coming from downstairs. Making his way into the kitchen, he found his uncle banging his head on the table again and again.

"What are you doing?" Naruto said thinking his uncle had lost his mind.

"Ugh! All this doom and gloom in this damn house is killing me. Even Umbrea's fallen under its effects" Zare said as he pointed to the black shape shifter who was sulking in the corner.

Naruto looked at her then back to his uncle and said, "So she wanted to become a dog. Maybe she just got bored of being a cat all the time"

"That woman hates dogs!" Zare said loudly, "You have no idea how many times she said she wanted to, and I quote, 'wipe the filthy creatures off the face of the planet'"

"Urk! I've had it" Zare said as he stormed out the kitchen, "If this house doesn't liven up, I swear to God I'm throwing those two out"

Marching to the room the two Uchihas shared, Zare literally kicked down the door, stormed up to the curtains and yanked them opened letting the light pour in.

"Okay you two get up!" Zare said loudly as the two roused from their sleep.

"Zare? What the hell are you doing" Obito said groggily.

"I've had it with this bloody dark cloud hovering over this house. Both of you get up and get ready were gonna train" Zare said.

Half an hour later the four of them were standing in a large clearing that was an exclusive training ground for the Uzumaki household.

"Now the four of us are here to get rid of this damn gloom that has absorbed all of us, and I, for one, am ready to beat it out of you if I have to" Zare said as he got a nod from the other three, "now before we begin I need analyse your chakra to work out your order of affinity"

"Order of affinity?" Sasuke asked, even Obito and Naruto looked slightly confused, the latter more so than the former.

"What most ninja don't realise is that, while we are able to wield certain natural elements, every human capable of using chakra can wield all five elements, while those with certain Kekkei Genkai's can merge two different chakra types to perform some of the more advanced elements. However, the further down the order of affinity you go, the more chakra is required and the harder it is to mold that specific element" Sasuke was about to interrupt but was cut short when Zare held up his hand and said, "But, with my training the three of you will be able to wield your top three elements with such ease people would think everyone of them were your primary affinity. Now Sasuke you had something you wanted to say?"

"Yeah, I can understand you doing this for Naruto, but why do Obi-oji and I need to do this we can just use our Sharingan to copy other people" Sasuke said.

Zare smirked as he disappeared in a shimmer of black mist and reappeared in front of the raven haired boy and whispered, "Just because you can wield the Sharingan doesn't make you all powerful. I fought against your brother and he didn't even get to lay a finger on me"

Sasuke shuddered as Zare said this and when he looked up, Zare was standing where he was originally.

"Now that brings me to my conditions" Zare continued, "Number one, under no circumstances, weather you possess it or not, are you allowed to use the Sharingan unless I say otherwise and usually that means training the Sharingan itself. Number two, I expect promptness, you will wake up on time, finish eating on time and be here on the training grounds ON TIME. You don't arrive on time, I slack off on your training and when I slack off people end up in the hospital For Naruto and Sasuke that means one hour after you get off from the academy, for Obito that means half an hour after the boys leave for the academy. Your weekends are for you to do with as you please, however for today and tomorrow I will make an exception. My third and final condition is that under no circumstances are you to tell anyone that I am training you. That means holding back when in the public eye. The only time you are allowed to show your true level of your ability is after you make Jounin. Since Obito is already a ninja of that rank he is exempt from having to hold back but he is still not allowed to tell others unless they already know the truth about me. As for you two, the only time I'll allow full use of your abilities prior to becoming Jounin is if the situation truly demands it and by the time I'm through with you, you will know when the situation demands it. Do I make myself clear?"

Once everyone voice their agreement Zare activated Umbrea's Mukogan and stared at his three students.

"Now let's see what I have to work with. First up Sasuke" Zare said as the raven head took a few steps forward, "Ok first off we have Fire, no surprise there you are an Uchiha after all. Next is Lightning, that will be fun to work with, and finally Earth, oooo now isn't that a treat" followed by Sasuke being reduced to a fit of giggles.

"Next Naruto" as the blonde stepped forward, Zare stared at him for a few seconds then said, "First we have... Wind, my, my, my aren't you a little bundle of blades, Water, hmmm cool collected I can deal with that and finally... lightning? Now I can honestly say I like what I'm seeing" Naruto, too, was left in a fit of giggles.

As Obito stepped forward, before Zare could say anything, he said, "Please spare me the commentary"

"What? Why?" Zare said visibly hurt, "The commentaries are the best part"

"Please" Obito said almost pleadingly.

"Oh fine! Fire, Water, Lightning now bugger off" Zare said as he looked away and waved the man off.

Obito stared wide eyed as his friend nonchalantly told him to get lost, but regained his composure when Zare looked at him with a cheeky grin.

"Now that I know what I have to work with, your training regime will be as such" summoning two shadow clones, without the need for the hand seals, Zare continued, "Naruto, your performance this past year has been astounding, from now on you will spend half your training time on the physical aspects of being a shinobi such as Taijutsu. The latter half will be spent on you Ninjutsu training, so go with one of my Shadow Clones and he'll get started with you"

"Sensei" Naruto said as he raised his hand causing Zare to inwardly smirk, the boy had pick up on his ability to shift between formality and informality at the flip of a switch, "What about the night time training?"

"What night time training?" Sasuke and Obito asked in unison.

"It's this special training Zare-oji-san makes me do when I'm sleeping. He comes to me in my dreams and makes me do these weird tasks that really make you think" Naruto said with a goofy grin.

"I was getting to that" Zare said, "Naruto you no longer need to partake in the Dream Sessions, Sasuke however does. It's not really necessary for you Obito, but you can join us for the sake of curiosity"

"Sure" Obito replied, he was actually quite interested in these 'Dream Sessions' and looked forward to it.

"Sasuke" Zare said catching the raven head's attention, "Since this is your first time joining us, we will start from scratch, we will start off with building up your stamina, physical strength and chakra reserves before working our way up from there. My other Shadow Clone will work with you on that"

Finally turning to Obito, Zare grinned evilly and said, "You. Me. Spar. Now. I need to get a good feel for your level of skill so I know what I'm dealing with"

The four of them, plus two Shadow Clones, went to separate areas of the clearing and began their training.

Two years passed and the fruits of their training were very evident, Naruto and Sasuke were well into training with their second element while Obito was working on his third. Sasuke even managed to awaken his Sharingan, much to everyone's surprise, during an especially tough sparing match with Naruto and himself against Zare where Zare went at them with the full intent to kill. The trio had mastered the Shadow Clone Technique to the point they only needed to use the hand seals when creating larger numbers as well as several other Jutsus not normally known by the average Konoha shinobi. There togetherness as a family blossomed, however Sasuke was a different matter altogether. The black haired boy became arrogant, obnoxious and at times downright rude which would constantly test the limits of Zare's patience until one day the boy finally crossed it.

"Sasuke, you have been slacking off on your warm up exercises. If this continues you will end up with a very serious injury when we reach the more advanced levels of training" Zare said in the middle of a training session.

"I'm sick of doing all these bloody warm up exercises all the time. I wanna learn Jutsus, powerful Jutsus. These exercises won't account for shit out in the field" the raven haired spat out.

Letting out a sigh Zare looked at the boy with pity and said, "Sasuke why do you fight? Why do you train?"

"*snort* to get stronger" the young Uchiha scoffed.

"And what is you reason to get stronger?" Zare asked, as stoic expression on his face.

The boy rolled his eyes in annoyance and said, "To bring me closer to my goal"

"That being?" Zare said.

"Is there a point in all this?" Sasuke asked, his face showing more and more annoyance by the second.

"Just answer the question" Zare said, with just enough force to cause his student's expression to falter ever so slightly.

"Fine. My goal is to find the man that ruined my life and kill him" Sasuke said coldly.

Zare closed his eyes as he took a deep breath then let it out before saying, "Get up Sasuke you're done for the day and while you're inside I want you to think about what the true meaning of strength is. As an added hint, the day you're family was murdered, I came to your uncle's aid. Though I knew the possible repercussion of interfering in a clan matter I did so anyway. Your answer lies there"

"What!? No! I am not leaving until yo-" Sasuke was cut short when Zare glared at him fiercely and said, "I said you're done for the day" before turning around and disappearing in a shimmer of black mist.

The next day Sasuke didn't turn up for training, instead opting to remain in his room. The days turned into weeks and the day marking a month since the young Uchiha became a shut in, Zare had had enough.

Marching into the boy's room, Zare dragged him out, much to his protests, and sat him in the kitchen.

"A month is a long time to think over a question, you better have a damn good answer" Zare said, as he sat down.

Sasuke simple scoffed and glared out the window.

Banging his head several times on the table, Zare turned to his best friend and asked, "Tell me Obito, in the long and glorious history that is the Uchiha Clan, has there ever been a child prodigy as stupid as Sasuke?"

Obito burst into hysterics at the self contradictory statement and after several minutes calmed down enough to say, "No, not that I know of" while rubbing tears from his eyes.

Sasuke scowled at his uncle's antics and was about to leave when Zare summoned two Shadow Tendrils and pushed the boy back down into his seat saying, "I'm not done with you yet"

"Sasuke, did you ever wonder why I stopped training you?" Zare asked.

"..."

"I stopped because I felt my efforts were wasted on you. The more you trained the more I felt you were not taking anything from those lessons. In order to reap the full benefits of my training, one must understand the true meaning of strength with every fibre of their being. Now tell me what the true meaning of strength is?" Zare said.

The raven head looked away, his face betraying a hint of conflicted emotion.

"Seriously, this child has a learning disability" Zare said as he dead panned.

"Naruto, why do wish to become strong?" Zare said as he looked at his nephew.

"To keep my friends and family safe and to become Hokage" Naruto said, the latter being said with a slight blush.

"An admirable dream Naruto, one, that I can hope, you will achieve" Zare replied, "Obito, what about you?"

"To keep the three men in my life safe" Obito said with a playful smirk, "And to fulfil a promise with a dear loved one"

"Ooooookay, an... interesting answer, one whose true meaning I'll have to divulge at a later time, but the jist of it is the same. You see Sasuke; true strength is not how many enemies you can defeat, but the drive and the will to protect those you hold dear. Which do you think is better, to better yourself so you can chase after a man because he took people who were dear to you or to better yourself so that you can make sure something like that never happens again?" Zare said.

Sasuke opened his mouth to answer, but Zare held up his hand and said, "You don't have to answer me now, its best if you go upstairs and think about it and I mean really think about it"

After Naruto and Sasuke left, Zare turned to Obito and said, "So... three men in your life?"

"Yeah, you, Naruto and Sasuke" Obito replied.

"Yes well I think it's lovely that you are finally being true to yourself, but do bear in mind that I am a married man, Kushina would highly disapprove of you going after her youngest son and last time I checked society deemed it frowned upon when man sets his eyes on his nephew. However if you are looking for a commitment, there are some people I can introduce you to. If you would like that is" Zare said.

Obito stared wide eyed in shock as his mouth moved but no sound came out. Finally being unable to hold it in, Zare let a subtle smirk leak as he burst into unbridled hysterics and almost fell about on the floor laughing where as Obito fell back into his chair, mind thoroughly roasted, so much so you could almost see the smoke flickering off the surface.

That night Sasuke's sleep was restless. It was the same nightmare he had almost every night although this time it seemed different.

"WHY DID YOU DO IT NII-SAN!? WHY!?" Sasuke yelled out.

"Why?" the blood soaked Uchiha said, "I merely wished to test my limits and to be honest you are not even worth killing"

Sasuke stood there horror struck as his brother grinned sadistically at him.

"I-I-I'LL KILL YOU!" Sasuke yelled as he charged towards Itachi.

Grabbing hold of the younger Uchiha, Itachi pinned Sasuke to the ground as he said, "Foolish little brother, if you wish to kill me then hate me, detest me and yet survive in an unsightly way. Run, run and cling to-HURK!"

Sasuke felt lighter as Itachi's weight was lifted off his body and seemingly tossed aside. Turning around Sasuke saw his brother on his knees with a large black scythe sticking out of his abdomen. A tall black figure stepped forward before taking a hold of the scythe and yanking it out with a sickening squelch. The young Uchiha cowered in fear as the dark figure approached him and said, "Sasuke! You ok buddy?"

Sasuke recognised the voice immediately as he looked up to see Naruto's uncle staring down at him.

"Zare-san? What are you doing here?" as the man picked him up and carried him.

"Well your uncle was wondering why you were running late so he sent me to come pick you up" Zare replied.

"Late? Late for what?" Sasuke asked.

"You'll see" Zare sad and left it at that.

They entered a house, one Sasuke found very familiar, and made their way to the back.

When they opened the door and entered, Obito looked at them and said, "Sasuke your late!"

"I'm sorry Obi-oji, but late for wha-" his question was cut short when he looked into the room and saw... his mother!?

"Kaa-san?" the boy said as Zare put him down.

"Hello, Sasuke" Mikoto replied as the boy slowly made his way to her.

"How is this? You're supposed to be"

"I know Sasuke" Mikoto said as she knelt and hugged her son.

The effect was immediate, Sasuke held onto his mother for dear life as he began crying uncontrollably.

"Shh, shh, shh, Sasuke" Mikoto said as she gently caressed the back of her son's head, "It's alright there's no need for you to cry you're a big boy now"

"I-I-I'm so sorry" Sasuke cried out.

"It's alright Sasuke. None of this was your fault. You had no way of knowing this would ever happen. You cannot blame yourself for this"

"But, but"

"No buts" Mikoto said as she placed a finger on his lips then gently placed him on the ground.

"Now you must promise me something Sasuke"

The boy just looked at her.

"You must stop chasing after your brother, no good will ever come of it. Can you do that for me?"

"I-I'll try" Sasuke said with tears in his eyes.

"And another thing, if the day ever comes where you really have to fight Itachi, make sure it's not because your are trying to seek revenge but because you are trying to protect your family"

"My family?"

"Yes your family" Mikoto replied as she turned Sasuke around to show him Zare, Naruto and Obito standing there smiling at him with Naruto waving his arms above his head.

Turning his head to look at his mother, Sasuke was about to speak when he was cut short by Mikoto placing a gently kiss on his forehead.

"I love you Sasuke I always will" Mikoto said as she faded away.

Waiting a few moments to gather himself, Sasuke wiped the tears from his eyes before turning around and making his way to his family.

As Zare closed Sasuke's bedroom door behind him, Umbrea's voice resounded in his head saying, "Was that really necessary?"

"Hey if it stops the kid from going psycho killer when he's older, who am I to complain. Besides if he's now willing to change himself for the better then it will make my plans regarding the Sharingan all the more easier" Zare replied.

"Yeah well, good luck with that. As for me I'm going to sleep, sustaining a corporeal representation of myself does nothing for my complexion. Good night" Umbrea said.

"Good night" Zare replied.

As Zare made his way back to his room, an unusually strong draft blew past him as a female voice whispered, "Thank you" in his ear.

"You say something?" Zare asked.

Umbrea groaned a 'no' causing Zare to shake it off and return to his room.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**YAY! Chapter 4 and 5 are finished. I've decided to switch to a two chapter update scheme so every time I finish two chapters I'll upload them for your pleasure.**

**Anyway, sorry for taking so long chapter 5 proved more tricky than expected. Chapter 4 was easier since I had everything planned from before. Yes I know this chapter is a bit depressing but I honestly could not improve it for the life of it no matter how hard I tried. For those of you who think this chapter was complete rubbish do bare in mind that it will have major implications from the next chapter onwards and to be honest the Sasuke in canon really makes me want to bash my head into a wall then give him a through bitch-slapping and telling the dumbass to stop acting like a bloody pansy. There I've had my rant.**

**Now to more important business, after I finish uploading chapter 5 I will setup a poll to decide the status of Makizaki Sazare's Kekkei Genkai because I've already decided that his child will have the Kekkei Genkai it's just that I can't seem to decide what influence Umbrea's presence has had on said Kekkei Genkai. So the question is as follows.**

**What happened to Zare's Kekkai Genkai when Umbrea sealed herself within him? **

**A. Nothing. He can still use his Kekkei Genkai just as he always had.**

**B. His Kekkei Genkai mutated due to Umbrea's influence (note Kekkei Genkai will still be the same, just look different, hence all elements linked to said Kekkei Genkai will look different (Think black fire)).**

**C. He had to sacrifice his Kekkei Genkai when Umbrea was sealed as such he can't use it but his decendants can.**

**So there's the question. It will stay up until after Team 7 return from the Wave mission (Probably after chapter 7 or 8. most likely 8) after which the decision will be set.**

**Now that, that's over and done with. I hope some of you enjoyed this chapter and please review, I really want to know what people think of my story, so far only my cousin and best friend have told me they liked it and even then it was when I met them today. So please review and if you have anything you want to see in this story PM me and I'll take a look. If I like it and decide to use it I will credit you.**

**Enjoy.**


	5. Evil Purified

Chapter 5

It was the summer before Naruto's and Sasuke's final year at Konoha Ninja Academy, the boys had just finished breakfast and were just about to leave to get ready for training when Zare called them back and told them to sit.

"Boys, during your time at the academy, you were told about the Kyuubi right?"

"Yeah, the Kyuubi attacked Konoha just over ten years ago and dad sacrificed his life to kill it" Naruto said.

"Yes and I'm glad the two of you were able to keep the fact that the two of you know who Naruto's parents are a secret. However what you were told about the incident is not entirely true" Zare said on the verge of panicking over how he would tell them the truth without the child having a mental breakdown, "The truth is, is that at the time it was discovered that it was impossible to kill the Kyuubi out right as it was far too powerful. Even when I used my most powerful attacks, the beast would shake it off like a playful slap. However Minato, being a genius at Fuinjutsu that he was, found out that by sealing the Kyuubi within a human host and by applying a seal that would slowly drain the beast of its chakra, it would be possible to kill it after a certain period of time"

"Ok, but what does this have to do with us?" Sasuke asked.

"*Sigh* This is where things get difficult" Zare said, "What I am about to tell you must not leave these four walls. If anyone and I mean anyone finds out that you know about this, the four of us will be executed"

This caused the two boys to get a very worried look on their faces as Zare continued, "In order to seal the unfathomable amount of chakra that is the Kyuubi, the Yondaime needed a child no older than one week of age so that the baby's chakra coils would be able to grow and accommodate such a large amount without being vaporised. At the time there were four babies to choose from but only one had the genetic disposition that already would have given the child the chakra reserves and coils worthy of an elephant and that was a little boy born to a blond haired man and a red haired woman"

Naruto's eyes widened in realisation and horror as he understood the meaning of what was said.

"So I'm"

"Yes Naruto, you are the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune" Zare solemnly.

Naruto began to cry as the news washed over him causing his best friend of the past seven years embrace him in a comforting hug. Zare and Obito gave and inward sigh of relief as they realised that the blond would not be abandoned by his best friend.

One Naruto had calmed down, Zare took a deep breath and let it out, now visibly more comfortable than before, and said, "Now for the reason as to why I have broken the Hokage's decree and am risking a death sentence by telling you all this. After I became your legal guardian, Naruto, I spent every waking moment scouring your father's research journals regarding the Kyuubi. However, they were horribly lacking and I can only assume your father trusted your mother to complete the research for him. As I am neither your father nor your mother I had to use my own personal knowledge and your father's notes to complete his research and I can say I have come to two possible conclusions" causing Naruto and Sasuke to look at the man who had lived for over two millennia.

"First option is incredibly risky, very painful and if not carried out to the utmost and I mean utmost perfection Naruto will die along with the Kyuubi, but if successful, the Kyuubi will cease to exist. The second and safer option is a reinforcement of the current seal you have on you. It will increase the rate at which the Kyuubi is drained and will eventually leave it an empty husk of its former self, too weak to even think about an attempt to escape" Zare explained.

Thinking over it for less than three seconds, Naruto looked deep into his uncle's eyes and said, "Kill it"

"Naruto, are you absolutely positive" Zare said very seriously.

"Yes" Naruto replied, his voice resolute, "That thing has been the bane of my existence my entire life. I wish to cut it out like the life-sucking tumour it is"

"That's a... rather bold way of putting it, but is this really what you want; because once we start we cannot stop"

Naruto simply nodded.

"Very well then" Zare said then turned to Sasuke, "The final decision falls to you Sasuke"

"What!? WHY!??" the boy said incredulously with a mixture of horror.

"Because in order for this plan to succeed I need the power of two people who possess the original Sharingan or at least will if this plan is agreed upon" Zare said.

"Original Sharingan! What are you talking about?" Sasuke replied, very much confused.

"I'll take over from there" Obito said, "Apparently, the Sharingan you and I possess isn't how the Sharingan is supposed to be. Zare told me that during the fledgling days of the Uchiha clan, a demon got an Uchiha pregnant and in turn manipulated the Sharingan into what it is today"

"Why?" Sasuke asked.

"Most likely to spread chaos" Zare said, "The Sharingan was originally a Kekkei Genkai used to protect. It gave the user almost everything the Sharingan of today has but it could also purify that which the user saw as an enemy. The Sharingan of today have a tendency of driving their owner mad in their lust for power and would stop at nothing to attain it. By agreeing to help I will re-modify your Sharingan back to what it originally was. You will still have the same abilities the current Sharingan gives you as well as some, if not similar abilities from the Mangekyo Sharingan but without the damaging effects"

"But why do I have to make the final decision? What about Obi-oji, don't you need his help too?" Sasuke said slightly panicking.

"I agreed to help before Zare even told me he needed it" Obito replied.

"No" Sasuke said, "I can't do it. I can't make a decision regarding my friend's life. I won't"

"Why not?" Naruto replied.

"Because I don't want to lose my best friend" Sasuke said getting more and more frantic.

"You won't" Naruto replied.

"How can you be so sure?" Sasuke said, weary of the blonds answer.

"Because I believe in you" Naruto replied with a grin.

Sasuke snapped. Grabbing the blond's shirt with both hands, Sasuke shook Naruto for everything he was worth, while yelling, "HOW THE HELL CAN YOU JUST SMILE AT ME LIKE THAT? THIS IS YOUR LIFE WERE TALKING ABOUT HERE! CAN'T YOU BE A BIT MORE SERIOUS?"

Zare and Obito had to pry the two boys apart and when Sasuke finally calmed they continued.

"Can I..., at least, have some time to think about it" Sasuke said.

Zare was about to speak but was cut short by Obito who said, "Yes but you don't have much time. Zare will have to modify the Sharingan then train us how to use it before the next New Moon"

"You mean we have to re-master the Sharingan in two weeks!" the raven head said frantically.

"No" Zare replied, "I will only train you in one particular ability that will be crucial in dealing the finishing blow on the Kyuubi. After that we can take things at a more leisurely pace"

"I'm exhausted" Sasuke said, "I'm going to bed" as he sauntered out of the kitchen followed by everyone else as they went about their own business.

The next morning Sasuke groggily walked into the kitchen and said, "I'll do it"

That evening, Zare modified the two Uchihas' Kekkei Genkai and over the course of the next two weeks he trained the two of them thoroughly.

Finally the day of the new moon arrived and all their preparations were complete. Zare sat them in a room under the house that had several seals inscribed along every surface and a bare patch in the shape of a human outline. Zare had Naruto strip to his boxers, much to the boy's displeasure, and had him lay within the outline. Zare sat on one end of the room with Sasuke and Obito behind him, their new Sharingans active. Gone were the red eyes with black tomoe marks, the two of them had ocean blue eyes with three silver tomoe marks spaced equally around the iris and a thin silver ring passing through the centre of each tomoe giving them a look of serene purity. Once ready to proceed Zare poured a small amount of chakra into one of the minor seals and watched as padded rings rotated over Naruto's wrists, ankles, upper torso and waist fixing the boy in place. Naruto slightly worried, looked at his uncle who said, "It's to stop you from moving too much. Like I told you before this procedure is very painful and once it starts, it cannot be stopped"

Naruto did an awkward nod and tried his best to relax.

"Let us begin" Zare said and activated the main sealing set causing the engraving in the walls to light up.

Naruto felt his body tingle as the seal activated and felt his stomach get slightly warm. The warmth increased until it burned with intense heat as the seal on his stomach was literally vaporised. Naruto's face contorted in silent agony as his back arched and a large dense blob of dark red chakra bubbled its way out of his stomach and took the shape of a massive fox head. Waiting for this to happen, Zare activated a second seal set causing several slender black spikes to burst out of specific points in the room and impale themselves in the demon fox's head and began draining the fox of its chakra.

From different points in the walls, hundreds of black thread like needles emerged and aligned themselves above Naruto's body. The needles hung for several seconds above the boy before rushing towards him and piercing every chakra pressure point on the boy's body then began pumping massive amounts of purified chakra in an attempt to forcefully expand the young blonde's chakra coils and reserves.

Naruto had been trying his best to suppress his screams when the fox began forcing its way out of his body, but when the expansion of his coils and reserves began, his control slipped. Naruto opened his mouth and let out a scream so agonising and blood curdling that if it were not for the massive amount of sound proofing in the room, the Devil himself would have heard it and cringed.

The screams seemed to continue for an eternity as Zare, Obito and Sasuke used every bit of control they had to stop themselves from trying to help the poor boy because any form of interference would put everyone's lives in danger.

Finally the red chakra stopped emerging out of Naruto's stomach and simply hung there above him still impaled on the black spikes, getting smaller by the minute. When the red blob was as small as a cat, Zare yelled out a loud and coherent, "NOW" and Obito and Sasuke struck.

Performing several quick hand seals, Obito and Sasuke glared at the remnants of the Kyuubi and in unison yelled out, "SHIRANUI!!" as brilliant white flames erupted from both their eyes and engulfed the red demon. The beast's screams were clearly heard over Naruto's as the pure flames burned away at the demon ever so slowly. After several minutes, the beasts screams ended entirely soon followed by Naruto as the procedure ended. The black spikes withdrew back into the walls as the black needles withdrew from the boy's body as he limply lay there. Quickly undoing the bindings, Zare, Obito and Sasuke rushed to Naruto's side as Zare activated his Mukogan and did a quick check on the blonde's body and said, "Well his body seems to be fine and his chakra coils look absolutely magnificent, considering they just got the equivalent of trying to push a hippo through a wedding ring, but I'm just hoping his mind isn't fried after having to experience pain on a level no creature should ever have to"

"Is there any way to find out?" Obito said with concern riddled in his voice.

"Not in his current state, but once he's regained consciousness, I'll link with him and take a proper look" Zare replied while placing one arm under Naruto's legs and another behind his back and carrying the unconscious boy back to the house.

A week passed before Naruto woke up from his coma and surprised everyone when he slowly made his way into the kitchen. The trio instantly huddled around him and instantly began pelting the blond with questions until he held his head and yelled, "Will you people shut up!? And who's this Naruto you keep talking about?"

The trio went quiet faster than you could say *bleep*.

"That's your name, dobe" Sasuke said resulting in Obito giving the raven head a swift whack over the head.

"What!? Why would I have a stupid name like that? On top of that, who are you people?" the blond replied.

With swiftness unbeknownst to mankind Zare acted. Summoning a pair of shadow tendrils, Zare dragged Sasuke and Obito back to their places and had them sit down while Naruto and himself made their way over and took their places.

Once sat down, Zare took on a serious expression and said, "Let us do this in a more civilised fashion instead of running around like mindless barbarians"

Over the course of the next half hour the trio questioned the blond in regards to everything that happened in the blonde's life, about the people he knew, things he liked and such, all of which the blond replied to with the same answer, "I don't know"

Once the realisation washed over him, Zare buried his face into his palms and stared at the table as his body began to shake.

"What have I done?" Zare said shakily as tear drops began to fall onto the table, "How could I have let this happen?"

Obito reached out his hand to try and comfort his friend when another wave of realisation washed over the grief stricken man as Zare softly uttered, "What am I going to tell his mother?" with that Zare arms fell over one another as his face contorted in pure anguish then buried his head into his arms and began crying uncontrollably. Obito was rubbing his friend's back while biting his lower lip trying desperately to hold back the tears and Sasuke simply hunched over, his hair falling over his eyes, hands on his knees rolled into tight fists as tears silently fell from his eyes.

After a few minutes, Umbrea jumped out if Zare's back, onto the table and said, "Ok Naruto come off it you've had your fun. No human should have to suffer through this much torture no matter how old they are"

"Oh thanks Umbrea" Naruto replied, "I just finished getting them to believe me and you had to go and ruin it"

Zare, Obito and Sasuke simply looked at the blond in complete shock.

After a series of loud bangs and crashes as well as several screams of pain, Zare trudged out of the kitchen absolutely fuming, one eye twitching like mad, while spouting expletives in several different languages, most of which hadn't graced the ears of man in centuries, followed slowly by Obito and Sasuke who said, "I didn't know you could use ninja wire, duct tape and a toaster in so many different ways"

"Neither did I" Obito replied, "Although you can't say the brat didn't deserve it"

"No, he deserved it alright" Sasuke said, "Much worse if you ask me"

"Well then I'm glad you weren't put in charge of punishment" Obito replied with a hearty laugh.

Meanwhile, from within the inner depths of the kitchen a soft whimpering could be heard which was over powered by the unrestricted cackling of a shape shifting black cat.

After the events of the ritual it turned out Naruto was completely fine except for his chakra control, which had been given a good beating before being buried alive and incinerated by the Earth's core.

Naruto had to relearn chakra control from scratch and due to his body still adjusting to the new chakra coils his control had to be even better than before and as a result it took a lot longer.

Hence a year later or so later, Naruto barely passed the academy graduation exam, but luckily was able to become a Genin. When the boys returned home, they were welcomed by both Zare and Obito who had organised a small party in the garden for the boys as congratulations.

"How did you guys know that we were going to pass?" Sasuke asked.

"Honestly" Zare replied as he turned to Obito, "The boy's a psychological paradox, I never thought I'd see the day when a prodigy and an idiot would share the same body. He's worse than Naruto and that's saying something"

"Hey! I'm not an idiot" Naruto said with a huff.

"Right and I secretly like to cross-dress and call myself 'Pussy Galore'" Zare replied, a puddle of sarcasm at his feet.

"Well there was that one time, you went in drag and had people call you 'Lady Love-tits'" Obito said causing Naruto and Sasuke to spray their drink all over the table.

"What!?" Naruto and Sasuke asked in unison.

"That was a DARE you dimwit, besides it was Halloween" Zare tried to explain.

"And what a dare it was" Obito said between laughs, "Minato-sensei, Kakashi and I made so much money that night"

"Yes, well I'm still waiting for my share you know" Zare said with a smirk.

"I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, besides Sensei had it" Obito replied with a bigger smirk.

"Yes well, sensei is dead and last time I checked, I did not possess the knowledge to bring the dead back to life" Zare said in mock annoyance.

This caused everyone to start laughing as they continued celebrating well into the night.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**Hmmmm, this chapter was shorter than I would have liked, but like I said before, this was a tricky chapter to write, simply because it was difficult to get it all to flow properly. I was going to add a little something at the end and even got permission to use it but decided to for go it at the last minute (Sorry for wasting your time foxsage)**

**Anyway, this chapter is hopefully better than the last one and would love to hear your comments on the comedy sections in this chapter. Also my writing style has shown itself. I personally hate Overly serious moments so I always like to put a little comedy to kill off the tension. That's just how I do things. **

**So please review and PM me if there is anything you want to see in this story and I'll credit you if I decide to use it. Also by the time you read this, the poll I mentioned in the previous chapter will most likely be up and running so please check it out and cast your vote.**

**Also in the next chapter we will have a lovely trip to Wave with bright sun, sea air and fat money hungry cockroaches that like to drain people dry while hiring a crazy psycho mummy with a big sword. Have fun~ and don't forget to send me a postcard. In addition, from the next chapter onwards I'll be using various Jutsus, most of which I'll have thought up on my own. I'll post their translations in this section for your understanding (note that I'll also be taking names from different animes and I'll tell you which ones I made myself, which ones are from canon and which ones I made but took names from somewhere else) **

**On a side note, since I'm still new to the world of fan fics could someone please tell me what all these various terms,( like AU, OC, OOC, etc) mean. Some of them I can kinda guess but others have completely lost me.**

**Hope you liked the chapter**

**Enjoy**


	6. Bonds of Trust

Chapter 6

The next day, Zare had to literally restrain the two newly appointed Genin during breakfast as they were far too excited to keep still and as soon as they were set free, the two of them bolted out the door so fast even the Fourth would have been jealous.

That morning all those who had passed were eagerly waiting for their sensei to arrive so they could find out their teams.

As soon as Iruka-sensei entered the classroom followed by the other Jounin-senseis, he was welcomed by several outraged students and some minor profanities regarding his 'late' arrival.

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm not late you guys are early" Iruka replied.

"Yeah, well you should have thought of that before you decided to come in late" Naruto stated.

"Damn Right!" came the response from several students.

"Ok, kids settle down. Now for team one, we have..." Iruka-sensei said as Naruto and Sasuke droned their teacher's voice out until their names were called.

After about half an hour Iruka was just about to announce the Genins of Team 7, when suddenly the doors of the classroom flew open and man with gravity-defying spiky grey hair, a partial face mask covering his mouth and nose, and his forehead protector positioned in such a way that it was covering his left eye was sent flying into the room.

When Iruka realised who just entered the room, his face twisted in horror and said, "Oh dear God Kakashi, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I thought I was supposed to become a Jounin-sensei, but seeing as you clearly don't want me around, I think I'll be on my way" the one-eyed ninja said as he dusted himself off and began making his way towards the door.

"Oh hell no, you are not going anywhere" said a voice that immediately made Naruto and Sasuke stare at the door.

"Obi-oji! What are you doing here!?" both boys exclaimed.

"Hey boys" Obito replied as he stepped into the classroom, "I was just making sure my former teammate made it in time so that his team would not be left waiting for hours on end"

"You're half an hour late" Iruka said after looking at his watch.

"Tch" Obito said as his face twisted in disgust and mumbled something about a stupid brooding Cyclops, "*sigh* Anyway, sorry for the interruption Iruka-san. Naruto, Sasuke, Zare wanted me to tell you that once you're done for the day, to come home he said he had a gift for you two"

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a gift now would it" Obito said with a smirk and promptly left the room.

"Right... Moving right along, Team 7 will consist of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto. Your sensei is Hatake Kakashi" Iruka said as Naruto and Sasuke high fived each other, several girls groaned in dismay and a certain pink haired Kunoichi-to-be was inwardly bubbling with glee.

After all the teams were assigned, Naruto, Sasuke and their new teammate, Sakura, collected on the roof of the academy where they met their sensei who said, "Well first off, congratulations on passing the academy exam, but now we get serious. However, before that, I believe introductions are in order. So start with your name, likes, dislikes, future aspirations and/or dreams"

"Well why don't you tell us first? That way we can have an idea of what to do" Sakura said.

"Oh please" Sasuke interjected, "Hell will freeze over before he tells us anything about himself"

This caused Sakura to look at the raven head questioningly.

"Yeah" Naruto said, "On the few occasions he's come over to our house and we get a chance to talk to him he's as talkative as a rock. The two of us have never been able to get him to tell us a thing about himself other than his name and even then Obi-oji answered for him"

Kakashi simply gave a one eyed glare to his two male students as Sakura pondered over the revelation and said, "You know, technically the fact that you were unable to pry anything out of Sensei tells you something about him in itself"

Naruto's and Sasuke's eyed widened in realisation as they looked from the pink haired girl to their sensei and back several times before grinning evilly and Naruto said, "MUAHAHAHAHAHA! SasuNaru one, Kaka-chan-sensei zero"

"Kaka-chan-sensei!?" Sakura exclaimed as she tried desperately to hold back her giggles.

"Yeah, my uncle said he use to call Kakashi-sensei Kaka-chan when he was younger. So Kaka-chan-sensei"

"Well it was that or Kaka-chi like Obi-oji once called him" Sasuke stated.

With that Sakura couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into hysterics while clutching her stomach in pain.

The boys looked at the pinkette before Naruto yelled out frantically, "SOMEBODY CALL A PRIEST!"

Sakura, finally able to bring herself under some semblance of control, looked at the blond strangely and asked, between laughs, "Why a priest?"

"Simple really. An Uchiha just made another human being laugh. I want a priest to make sure the boy isn't possessed or something" Naruto explained before turning his attention to Sasuke and glared at him while saying, "Who are you and what have you done to my emo-ranger?"

"What the hell!? I'm not emo and since when am I 'yours'" Sasuke said incredulously.

"Since I caught you singing in the shower, badly I might add" Naruto said.

Sasuke just sat there, one eye twitching as Sakura burst out laughing all over again this time while rolling around and kicking her legs haphazardly, which the boys dodged flawlessly.

"Operation: Icebreaker complete" both boys thought to themselves' as Kakashi, who had witnessed the entire exchange, thought to himself, "Why the hell did I choose these kids to be my students?... Well at least they get along"

The next morning Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were sprawled out in the middle of the Training Ground No. 3 occasionally moaning in pain when their stomachs protested at their emptiness.

"Where is he?" Naruto groaned as his stomach rumbled, "We've been here for over two hours"

Suddenly Kakashi jumped down into the training ground and said, "Sorry I'm late, see there was this old lady and she said she was lost and, being the shinobi that I am, I was obligated to assist"

The trio sent such severe death glares to their sensei that he couldn't help but sweat slightly.

"LIES! LIES AND FRUITCAKE!" Naruto yelled out fiercely, but his expression died instantly as his stomach gave out another loud grumble causing him to groan in pain and said, "Ugh, I'm too hungry to bitch right now. Let's just get this god damn bloody test over with so I can eat"

"Naruto, stop swearing. You know what will happen if your uncle finds out" Sasuke groaned out, too hungry to properly chastise the blond.

"I can't help it. Low blood sugar makes me bitchy. I'm like Kiba's mom when it's 'That time of the month'... Speaking of which, what is 'That time of the month'?" Naruto asked which promptly resulted in a red-faced Sakura punching Naruto's head into the ground as she literally growled out, "Shut! Up!" but regretted her actions immediately as her stomach protested again causing her to flop back onto the ground and melodramatically groan out, "I'm dying. Someone either kill me or kill the Cyclops"

The entire exchange cause Kakashi to raise an eyebrow as he sighed in disappointment then tossed his three students a piece of candy each and watched in horror as they attacked them like vultures over a carcass.

Once the trio were more alive, Kakashi explained the test, "The test is simple. The three of you have to come at me with everything you got and try and get these bells off me"

Sakura raised her hand to ask a question as Naruto noticed Sasuke shift his weight ever so slightly.

"Why are there only two bells?" Sakura asked.

"Simple" Kakashi stated, "Whoever doesn't get a bell gets sent back to the academy. Now enough chit chat. BEGIN!"

With that Naruto and Sasuke grabbed onto Sakura and dashed off into one of the bushes.

*WACK* "What the hell is wrong with you two, grabbing me like that?" Sakura yelled as she smacked both boys over the head.

Naruto was rubbing his head with clenched eyes while Sasuke had both hands on his head until he lowered them and looked up at Sakura with wide teary eyes, a pair of black cat ears on his head, a quivering pout and said, "Nya?" as cutely as possible.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Sakura squealed as she grabbed Sasuke in a crushing hug and began rubbing her cheek against his, while babbling on about ultimate cuteness.

"Remind me again, why I thought this would get her to stay away from me?" Sasuke said as he looked at Naruto through half open eyes.

"Because you're an idiot for believing me when I said it would" Naruto said with a snicker.

"I hate you, you know that" Sasuke said.

"Bite me" Naruto replied.

"Sorry, not hungry" Sasuke said and at that moment Sasuke's stomach growled loudly causing all three of them to burst out laughing.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was sitting against a tree reading his infamous orange book when he heard laughter and thought, "What the hell are those kids doing? They better be taking this test seriously or I'll make sure they never see the inside of a mission scroll ever" before returning to his book and uttering a perverted giggle.

Once they had regained their composure the trio walked deeper into the bush in silence until Sakura ended it by saying, "So how are we going to get the bells without getting turned to mush and how do we decide who gets them?"

"You know the bells are not the point of the test" Naruto said causing Sakura to look at him questioningly.

"*sigh* How are ninja teams set up?" Naruto asked

"Four ninjas with one acting as the leader" Sakura replied.

"And how does a team operate?" Naruto asked again.

"They work together to complete the mission" Sakura said, still not understanding the point.

"And if one person is unable to assist in the mission?"

"The team falls apart because it's incomplete"

"So what would happen if one of us got sent back to the academy?" Naruto asked getting ever so slightly irritated.

"Our team would be incomplete and we all get sent to the academy. So if we want to pass we have to work together!" Sakura said in realisation and glee as Naruto chuckled and gave a foxy grin.

"Yes well, I think that's fine and dandy but I think it's a waste of time" Sasuke said.

"What!? WHY!?" Naruto and Sakura said in unison.

"Because we already passed" Sasuke said as he held out the two bells and a cheeky and mischievous grin crept across his face.

Sakura just stared at him slack jaw while Naruto uttered incompressible sounds as Sasuke told them to quiet down and said, "I cast a quick Genjutsu with my Sharingan to make you guys freeze and took the bell off him while replacing them with Kage Bunshins while he was still explaining the test"

"So that's why I noticed your stance change when he was explaining" Naruto said.

Sasuke simply nodded while Sakura suddenly found her voice and said, "So let's just go and show him the bells and get this stupid test over and done with"

"Hold it!" Naruto exclaimed causing his two companions to stare at him, "Just because we have the bells doesn't mean he will pass us. Besides I want to torture the man for starving us and making us suffer while he came late" as an evil grin crept across Naruto's and Sasuke's faces.

"So how do we do this" Sakura said in an amused tone causing both boys to look at her in shock.

"Whoa! You want to help us?" Naruto said in disbelief.

"We thought you would be the voice of reason and tell us not to do it" Sasuke said.

"Listen, I am a pink haired kunoichi who gets bugged everyday over her insanely large forehead, which frankly I think is a complete lie. I am hungry, I am pissed off and I am aching to dish out some serious hurt right now. So if the two of you don't let me help you send the one eyed bastard to the Front Gates of Hell I will make you my prey and make you wish you were beaten to death with a spiked mace before having it shoved up your asses. Do I make myself clear" Sakura said with so much killing intent that if the boys weren't already used to Zare's killing intent they would have pissed blood, none the less they were still scared.

"Right let's start planning" Naruto said with a nervous smile as he tried to break the tension.

Half an hour later Sakura burst out of the bush with tears streaming down her face and cried out, "Kakashi-sensei! Some weird Nins ambushed us and attacked Naruto and Sasuke-kun. You have to help them!"

Kakashi immediately jumped to his feet and began running in the direction Sakura pointed in but stopped when he caught movement in the corner of his eye and saw Sakura performing several hand signs and yelled out, "DEKOPIN BEAM!"

Suddenly the area seemed to darken as Sakura's hair flared around her while a glowing light blue circle formed in the middle of her forehead. Kakashi looked at her in curiosity until a thin light blue beam burst out of the circle and went straight for him. Kakashi narrowly dodged the attack as the beam continued onwards and effortlessly cut a tree in half and sliced several bushes. Kakashi continued to dodge until he noticed a disruption in his chakra causing him to perform a single hand seal and yelled out, "KAI"

Instantly the area returned to normal and the destruction was as if it never happened.

Just as soon as the Genjutsu was dispelled, Naruto and Sasuke appeared in yellow and black blurs, respectively, and attempted a kick to either side of Kakashi's head. Kakashi made an attempt to grab the two boys but they disappeared and reappeared from a different angle trying a different strike. When Kakashi tried to grab them again, they disappeared and reappeared from yet another angle. This continued on for several further attempts while Sakura began throwing several shuriken and kunai in an attempt to distract him. When the duo disappeared again for the tenth time, they reappeared again, this time with several copies all attacking from their previous angles, this caused Kakashi to swap himself out with a log and as the boys' strikes impacted with said log, it exploded into thousands of splinters which caused all the clones to disperse in a large cloud of smoke.

When Kakashi stood up from where the log originally was, he looked on at the destruction the clones had caused and thought, "Interesting, the two of them know how to perform the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and that Genjutsu Sakura used, the oddness of it tends to captivate the opponent, I'll have to ask her about it later, as for the movement technique the two boys used, it was almost identical to the Hiraishin no Jutsu Minato-sensei used. I have to wonder just how much training Zare has put them through. I'll have to be more careful from now on"

Kakashi was quickly brought out of his musings as he felt a hand press lightly on his back as a voice calmly said, "Raiton: Rakurai"

Kakashi yelped as a strong electric surge coursed through his body, paralysing him as he fell to the ground. Meanwhile in the training ground, Sakura was waiting for her teammates to return when she saw a bush rustle and prepared herself for attack. From within the bush came Naruto and Sasuke dragging a tied up Kakashi before placing him up against a tree. When Sakura reached them, Sasuke placed a fist out in front of him followed by Naruto and Sakura placing their hands over said fist as Sasuke let the bells dangle from his fingers and said with a smirk, "So sensei do we pass?"

"When did you?" Kakashi asked wide eyed but was cut short by Sasuke who said, "While you were still explaining the test"

Kakashi hung his head low in defeat and said, "Yeah you pass. Meet me at the Hokage's Tower at 7 a.m. for your first mission"

The trio cheered loudly at their success and began walking out of the training field. When Kakashi realised what was happening he began struggling against the ropes and calling out to the trio to untie him but they simple ignored him and continued walking. When the trio were out of sight, Kakashi, in a rare outburst, cursed loudly and mentally asked himself, "Why the hell did I pass those brats?"

"Hey Sakura-chan" Naruto said as they exited the training grounds.

"Yeah?" the pinkette replied.

"Why don't you come over to our place t for lunch I'm sure my uncle would be thrilled to meet you?" Naruto asked.

"Uhh, I'm not sure. I don't want to impose or anything" Sakura said with uncertainty.

"Nonsense, besides it would be a welcome change from having to look at three guys all the time" Sasuke said with a bit of disgust.

"Hey" Naruto said mildly offended, "I'm sexy and you know it"

"Right and I like to cross dress" Sasuke replied sarcastically.

"No that's my uncle" Naruto said while looking up in thought.

"WHAT!?" Sakura exclaimed

"He said it was a dare, but he is pretty weird" Naruto replied.

"You both are weird. I can't believe this is how you two act when you're alone. You never acted like this in the academy" Sakura said.

"That's because we were forced to turn it down. Now that we graduated we can be ourselves. Besides you know you love it" Naruto replied with a goofy grin.

Sakura sported a vivid blush and said, "W-w-w-what a-a-are y-y-y-you t-trying to imply?" while thinking, "SHIT! Have they found me out?"

"He's saying that deep down inside you prefer the way we act now instead of when we have to restrain ourselves" Sasuke said bluntly.

"Oh. Right" Sakura said and thought, "Whew I thought they found out"

"You gotta be careful girl" Sakura's inner personality said, "Don't need the two hottest boys in class finding out you like 'em"

"I'm such a sinful woman" Sakura mused to herself.

"Damn right! You go girlfriend" Inner replied while snapping her fingers.

Sakura was brought out of her thoughts by two very loud Genin saying, "We're here!"

"Huh! Where?" Sakura said.

"Our home, geez you really need to pay attention more" Sasuke said.

Sakura laughed nervously as they stepped into the house and Naruto yelled out, "We're back, and we brought our teammate!"

"Hey guys!" Sakura heard a voice yell from around the corner, "How was the test?" followed by footsteps.

"Quick pretend you're sad" Sasuke whispered.

"What!? Why!?" Sakura whispered back.

"Just do it" Naruto said.

Sakura did as she was told and saw a young man with short spiky black hair, and sapphire blue eyes poke his head from around the corner. After a few seconds, his features turned fierce as he literally spat out, "I WILL SLAUGHTER THAT CYCLOPS!" then in a puff of black smoke a copy of the man stood in the hallway as the man looked at the copy and said, "Kill him"

The clone voiced his acknowledgment and with a salute disappeared in a shimmer of black mist.

Once the clone disappeared Naruto looked at his uncle with a cheeky grin and said, "By the way we passed"

"I know, I just want to torture him for depriving my cute little nephew from some much needed nourishment" Zare said, his face with a more happier expression, "Now that that's over with, I would like for the two of you to be proper gentlemen and introduce the lovely lady behind you before I mistake the spatula in my hands for a kunai and use you two for target practice"

Sakura blushed at the compliment which went unnoticed as Naruto said, "Zare-oji-san this is our teammate, Haruno Sakura. Sakura-chan this is my uncle, Makizaki Sazare"

"It is a pleasure to meet you, my dear. Do come in lunch will be ready in a little while" Zare said before disappearing back around the corner.

"Dekopin Beam!?" Zare said as he roared with laughter, "That has to be the most original Genjutsu I have ever heard of. I'm sorry Sakura-san, but you must show it to me"

"What!? No it's embarrassing" Sakura said in almost a whine.

"I promise you I will not laugh" Zare said reassuringly.

Sakura was unsure for a moment but then agreed and showed the Genjutsu.

It was amusing to see Zare dodge non-existent beams and when it was over, he looked at the pinkette with wide eyes and a slack jaw.

"I have got to turn that into a proper Jutsu that was absolutely incredible" Zare said.

"What!?" everyone exclaimed. Even Obito was shocked.

"Oh come on, any Jutsu junky would kill to be able to perform an actual Jutsu like that. I have to say Naruto your Genjutsu concept was pure genius... Did I just use Naruto and genius in the same sentence?" Zare said.

"I do believe you did" Obito said, amused.

Zare suddenly went wide eyed and rushed towards a the nearest window, and stuck his head out for a few seconds before bringing it back in and breathing a sigh of relief.

"What was that all about?" Sasuke asked.

"Just checking to see if the Apocalypse wasn't upon us" Zare said with a devious grin.

Naruto just looked at his uncle wide eyed in horror, Sasuke and Sakura were desperately trying to suppress their giggles and Obito just looked at Zare with a smile while shaking his head and said, "You're horrible you know that"

"I diss because I love. So Sakura-san what do you think of our dysfunctional family?" Zare said with a warm smile.

A few weeks passed and the trio were well into performing missions, tedious missions, and today was the worst of them all.

"Pinky, calling Whiskers and Emo-Ranger, what's your status" Sakura said into her com link as she crouched on the edge of a roof

"Whiskers here, target has entered the market place. Proceed as planned" came Naruto's voice.

"Why am I Emo-Ranger?" Sasuke spoke over the com, "How many times do I have to tell you I'm not emo"

"It was either that or Sir Quack-a-lot" Naruto said, "Besides it's better than being a brand of cat food and after having to do this mission for the hundredth time, I can clearly say I hate cats"

"Emo-Ranger it is. Now can we hurry and finish this mission, that damn abomination is pushing the limits of my patience" Sasuke said.

"Agreed, after we're done we'll hunt down Cyclops and meet up at Big Daddy's Place" Sakura said.

"Roger that" Naruto and Sasuke replied.

After several hours, a battered and bruised Team 7 stood in front of the Hokage as the Fire Daimyo's wife left the room with her 'precious cat' Tora in her crushing grasp.

"Umm, well... done Team 7, your mission was a success. As for your next mission I'm afraid there's only the T-" The Hokage said.

"If you give us the Tora Retrieval again, I swear to God I'll turn that filthy beast into a violin" Naruto said with so much killing intent and hatred you could almost see it coming off of him in waves.

Kakashi almost expected his two other students to flinch at Naruto's outburst, but was surprised when both of them were emitting the same, if not more killing intent than the blond was.

The Hokage cringed at the sheer amount of killing intent coming from the three Genin and said, "Well I'm afraid that there are only C-Rank mission and above and I cannot give you any of them as you are only fresh Genin" the Hokage said.

"For the sake of that wretched abomination, you will give us a C-rank mission. Otherwise you will have to explain to the Fire Daimyo's wife as to why her 'precious' needs a tune up every several months" Sasuke said much to everyone's surprise.

Hiruzen sighed in defeat and with a sigh said, "Fine, there is a simple escort mission to Wave. You will escort the country's bridge builder, Tazuna, and protect him if necessary"

Kakashi nodded his head at the Hokage prompting the old man to hand over the scroll with the full details. After Kakashi read over the mission details he said, "Ok meet me and the client at the front gate at 0700. Dismissed"

It was two hours after the trio arrived that Kakashi met them at the gate and another hour before their client, Tazuna, arrived in a drunken stupor.

"So this is my escort to Wave" the man said with a slight slur, "Pretty unimpressive if you ask me, especially the one with the stupid face" while pointing to Naruto.

Naruto scowled at the man's comment and said, "Yeah well at least I don't piss lighter fluid on a daily basis" clearly the boy was not a happy bunny at that moment.

"Smart, you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Tazuna asked.

"I don't have a mother. Now can we please get on with the mission before the client gets even more hammered" Naruto said loudly.

Half an hour after they left Sasuke fell instep next to a scowling Naruto and said, "Awww, poor Naru's suffering from withdrawal symptoms?"

"I swear, if I don't prank somebody soon I will bitch-slap the first animal I see" Naruto said.

"Well then just prank Tazuna. You clearly don't like him" Sasuke said.

"Too much planning required. I won't be able to make it" Naruto said while nibbling on his thumb.

"Good God, you're acting like a junky who hasn't had a hit in two days. Just go with something simple do an Orioke no Jutsu" Sasuke said.

"Are you trying to get Sakura to kill me?" Naruto said.

"No, but... Hang on I just got a brilliant idea" Sasuke said and began to whisper in Naruto's ear, Sakura seeing this decided to see what they were doing and walked up beside them just as Sasuke pulled away and Naruto said, "Sasuke, my friend, if you weren't a guy I'd kiss you right now"

"Well that never stopped you before" Sasuke said with an evil grin.

Sakura went red faced as she decided to pull away and walk next to her sensei.

"Well that will teach her to pry into other people's business" Naruto said causing the two of them to start laughing.

After walking for the rest of the day, the group decided to set up camp near a small river and call it a day. Naruto and Sasuke setup up their tent and crawled in after helping the rest of them set up theirs and called it a night while taking turns keeping watch.

The next morning Naruto poked his head out of the tent and smirked, Kakashi was already up and out of his tent, Sakura had just popped her head out of hers and Tazuna was making his way out of his. Popping back inside, he nodded to Sasuke and decided to proceed with their plan. Unzipping the tent fully, Naruto and Sasuke stepped out of their tent clad only in boxers and stretched as Naruto said, "Ooooo, I haven't slept like that in ages"

The boys noticed Sakura go completely red as she covered her nose with her hand to try and hold back her nose bleed while Kakashi and Tazuna looked at them with a raised eye brow.

"Time for phase two" Naruto said softly as a female voice from within the tent said, "Naru-kun~ Come back to bed it's too early" as a woman with long brown hair and green eyes popped her head out of the tent. Sakura's jaw dropped and the two other men went wide eyed.

"Yeah, Sasu-chan~ we're still tired from last night" came another voice as a woman with short red hair and brown eyes popped her head out.

Suddenly there was another "Yeah" as four more women popped their heads out, a pair of which were twins.

Sakura looked at the sight in complete horror as she went even redder than before and ducked back into her tent then closed it. Tazuna simply rubbed his eyes and mumble something about too much booze and went back into his tent. Kakashi however glared at the two boys and marched past them towards the river while muttering something akin to "Lucky Bastards"

Once the area was clear the women turned into copies of Naruto or Sasuke and disappeared in puffs of smoke as the two originals fell about laughing.

After three more days of walking the group had finally neared Wave, but had slowed down due to the intense heat. As they continued down the road, they noticed two puddles of water but thought nothing of it, that is, until Naruto yelped in surprise causing everyone to turn around and see two strange looking Nin with re-breather masks, clawed gauntlets on one arm each and wearing a Kirigakure forehead protector with a slash running through the symbol and to top it off one of them had Naruto wrapped in chains that were coming from his gauntlet.

"NARUTO" Sasuke yelled as Naruto stood there with a fearful and shocked look on his face.

"SAKURA! Pull yourself together and guard Tazuna" Kakashi barked out as he pulled out a kunai.

"Look what we have here Aniki, a group of Konoha brats and their sensei. Lucky!" the one that had captured Naruto said.

"Indeed brother lets deal with them quickly and eliminate the target. We, the Demon Brothers, have a reputation to uphold" the other one said and lunged towards Kakashi.

"Naruto" Sasuke yelled then suddenly his face turned into a playful grin and calmly said, "Stop playing around"

Naruto simply grinned as he closed his hand over the chain that was binding him and pumped it full of lightning chakra electrocuting the man binding him. Then he summoned wind chakra and sliced the chains binding him before tossing a kunai infused with wind chakra and watched it leave a large hole where the man's heart once was.

Meanwhile Kakashi had just dodged a swipe from the remaining Demon Brother and went wide eyed as Sasuke rushed in front of the former Kiri-nin and stabbed him in the stomach with a kunai that was glowing red hot. Kakashi watched in horror as flames erupted from behind the Kiri-nin's re-breather mask before Sasuke yanked the kunai out of his gut and the man fell over dead.

After the battle was over and everyone regrouped Kakashi looked at Tazuna and demanded an explanation. Tazuna told them about the situation in Wave and the man known as Gato who was draining the country dry and how he opposed the bridge building project.

"Tazuna-san, because of your deception, this mission has just risen from a C-Rank to an A-Rank. This is far beyond the capabilities of three fresh Genin" Kakashi said.

"I think we should go home" Sakura said, voice riddled with worry, "It's too dangerous"

"How can you say that Sakura-chan?" Naruto said causing the pinkette to give him a confused look.

"We have already come too far to quit now. If the situation is as bad as Tazuna-san says it is then we are the only ones who can fix this" Sasuke said.

"Besides, we are Konoha-nin. We're supposed to be the best of the best. So what do you say? Let's go and show that lazy fat ass what happens when he messes with a bunch of Konoha-nin" Naruto said with a grin.

"Yeah you're right. Sorry for doubting you guys. Now let's go and tear the fat-shit a new one" Sakura said while pumping a fist into the air.

"There's the Feisty Pink Banshee we all know and love" Naruto said.

"Excuse me!?" Sakura yelled out.

"Sorry, slip of the tongue" Naruto as he started backing up slowly.

"It damn well better be" Sakura said, waving a fist.

After half an hour of walking the group stopped and turned looked behind them when they heard an audible 'Thump'

"NARUTO" Sasuke yelled when he noticed his best friend had collapsed.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**Hey again, sorry for taking so long. My excuse, I watched an episode of Digimon Data Squad and the bgm from a particular scene made me think up a fight scene so unbelievably awesome that it captivated me and locked up all further ideas. Sadly it will have to wait until my story shifts into Shippuuden and I have absolutely no idea when that will happen. I really am sorry.**

**Anyway on to more important issues, namely the poll. I can't believe I've had only one vote. Come on people I really need your help in making the decision. I don't want to have to close my eyes and place a finger on an option and not only be dissatisfied, but piss my readers off in the process. So please do go and vote, I'll keep it active until I up load Chapter 9 that should be more than enough time.**

**I guess that's about it.**

**Jutsu Notes**

**1. Dekopin beam - Forehead beam. I found this in an anime called Pani Poni Dash. Its a very funny anime and it just seemed right and hilarious for Sakura to use it. If I have angered any Saku fans out there, I apologise and promise she will never use it beyond this chapter, I needed it for the Jutsu Zare will derive from it.**

**2. Raiton: Rakurai - Lightning Element: Lightning Strike. Made this one up myself. Its a low ranking technique that emits a powerful but non lethal (depending on the amount of chakra used) electrical shock to a person, paralysing them in the process.**

**So I guess that about wraps it up. Please read and review and do partake in the poll.**

**Enjoy**


	7. Waves of Change

Chapter 7

Kakashi and Sasuke immediately rushed to the blonde's side as Sakura just stood there with her hands over her mouth.

They turned the blond over and as Kakashi examined him for injuries, Sasuke gripped onto the black crystal pendant Zare gave to him and called out to the man.

Almost immediately Zare replied and said, "I knocked him out, he was having a bit of trouble dealing with the fact he had killed a man. I've already linked with him and am helping him deal with it. Tell Kakashi what I've done and ask him to let all of you take a break. I want you to rest as well, though you may not show it, it is your first kill and I want to make sure there isn't any lasting damage. An hour should be enough"

Zare cut the link and Sasuke told Kakashi what he had been told. Kakashi understood and looked at the others and said, "He's alright just a little exhausted. We'll take a short break then continue" as he lifted the blond and the group made their way off the main road.

An hour later, Naruto and Sasuke woke up from their little nap feeling better than ever. Sakura began questioning them relentlessly but stopped when both boys managed to convince her that they were fine, she stopped. A few minutes after they were back on the road, Kakashi fell in step with the two boys and questioned them about what had happened while they were asleep.

"My uncle helped us come to terms with the fact that we had taken a life" Naruto said with a solemn look on his face, "I never realised how easy it was to kill someone, I've never been so disgusted with myself"

"That's a sign that you're human. Never forget how awful it felt to take a life" Kakashi said, "The day you are able to kill a person and not feel anything is the day you revoke your license as a ninja. Also for future reference, always remember that if you have to take a life it should always be as a last resort. Never make it a habit to kill. I know we are supposed to be ninja, but that doesn't mean we should forego our humanity"

"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei, that's almost the same as what my uncle told us" Naruto said.

"Your uncle's a wise man" Kakashi said as he ruffled both boys' hair.

After an hour the group finally entered Wave Country and began picking up the pace, but that was short lived.

All of a sudden Kakashi yelled out an order to duck causing everyone to hit the ground as a large broad sword spun over their heads and embedded itself into a tree. When everyone stood back up they noticed a tall, bare-chested muscular man standing on top of the blade. He had spiky black hair and brown eyes. He wore no shirt but did wear a pair of grey camo-trousers and black ninja sandals. His mouth, nose and ears were indistinguishable as they were wrapped behind bandages and his forehead protector was such that the slashed Kirigakure symbol was on the side of his head.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here? Now hand over the bridge builder and I'll make your deaths quick and painless" the man said with a deep voice.

"Who's that?" Naruto said as, his teammates and himself took guard positions around Tazuna.

"That's Momochi Zabuza, an A-Rank missing Nin from Kirigakure" Kakashi said.

"An A-Rank missing Nin!?" Naruto said incredulously.

"Yes, now I want the three of you to guard Tazuna, I'll deal with him" Kakashi said as he readjusted his forehead protector to reveal the red iris of the Sharingan in his right eye.

Sasuke, temporarily stunned by the sight, remembered his uncle and regained his composure.

The two boys glanced at each other and nodded before they both took out a pair of black fingerless gloves and put them on. They performed a series of hand seals then clapped their hands together.

When the read markings on the back of their palms began to glow, Naruto yelled out, "Gutai Ka: Seinaru Kaze!" while Sasuke yelled out, "Shogeki to Ifu: Raiden!"

Once done the boy's pulled their hands apart to reveal a katana was now occupying the space in between their hands and before they fell, the boys grabbed on to their weapons. Naruto's sword was a silvery grey where as the blade itself seemed to turn a slight blue when the light hit it a certain way. As for Sasuke, his sword was more fiery orange with a blade that turned red when struck with the light. As soon as they had a firm grip on their weapons, the boys took a fighting stance, ready to protect their client with all they had.

Meanwhile Kakashi had just stabbed Zabuza in the stomach in an attempt to stop this sword strike but quickly stepped back when water began pouring out of the wound and Zabuza dissolved in a puddle of water. Suddenly Zabuza reappeared behind Kakashi and cut through him with his sword, but Kakashi too dissolved into a puddle of water. Then Kakashi reappeared behind Zabuza saying, "It's over" but was surprised when another Zabuza reappeared behind and grabbed him while saying. "Yes it is" and the clone in front turned into water. Kakashi tried to break free from the bulky man's grasp, but to no avail as Zabuza chuckled and threw him into a nearby lake. When Kakashi broke through the surface, he heard Zabuza chuckle before suddenly being enveloped in a sphere of water.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, now to make you watch as my clone kills your precious students" Zabuza said as Kakashi watched in horror as a water clone advanced towards his students.

"Naruto! You go free Kakashi, I'll keep the clone busy" Sasuke yelled.

"Got it" Naruto replied.

"Heh, what can you do brat?" the clone said as it suddenly rushed Sasuke.

"This" Sasuke said as he began waving his sword in a lop-sided figure eight and yelled out, "Katon: Nanba!"

Immediately waves of fire began erupting from the blade and charged towards the clone. The clone braced itself with its sword, but was surprised when each strike pushed the clone back a few inches. Sasuke continued the onslaught as he glanced at Naruto and saw he still hadn't moved causing the raven head to yell out, "Naruto, get going"

Naruto, startled out of his thoughts, shifted his sword such that it was pointing behind him and charged towards his sensei's captor with such speed that the water at his feet was forced to either side in massive waves. Zabuza smirked at the boy's antics and brought his sword down just as Naruto reached him. There was a loud boom reminiscent of a thunder clap as water was thrown up into the air. When the air cleared, Naruto was seen hefting Kakashi onto his back as Zabuza stood there immobilised as electrical sparks dances over his body.

Naruto simply smirked and said, "Raiton: Denpa Ken" before disappearing in a yellow blur and reappearing on the shore.

"Kakashi-sensei! You alright?" Naruto said with genuine worry.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just what was that?" the silver-haired Jounin asked as he stood to his feet.

Naruto gave a foxy grin and said, "Just a little something my uncle taught me" and left it at that.

Meanwhile Sasuke had just finished dispatching the clone when he heard a loud yell from his right and saw Zabuza running towards them, sword poised to strike. Sasuke went wide eyed for a moment before gathering as much fire chakra in his sword as possible before yelling out, "Katon: Dai Nanba" while performing a lateral sword slash causing a massive wave of fire to erupt from the sword straight towards Zabuza. Moments before the wave of fire hit, the bandaged missing-nin was seemingly tossed aside and impacted with a tree. When everyone looked they saw Zabuza against the tree with three needles sticking out of his neck.

"You have my thanks for distracting my target until I had a chance to attack" came a voice.

As everyone looked around, a person wearing a faceless mask with swirl like markings and the Kiri symbol on the forehead jumped down and said, "I have been tracking this man for many weeks. He has proven most elusive"

Naruto and Sasuke readied themselves to attack but were stopped when Kakashi stepped in front of them and said, "That's enough boys. That person is a hunter-nin from Kiri, an ANBU operative. From this point on the entire matter is out of our hands"

With that the two boys relaxed their stances and lowered their swords but still stayed on alert. After the ANBU left with Zabuza's body, the group continued onwards that is until Kakashi collapsed.

When Kakashi woke up, he found himself in a room he was not familiar with. Getting up with a start, he fell back onto the bed with a groan when the blood left his upper regions.

"Easy there, you should be more careful with yourself. You've been asleep for almost three days" said a female voice.

Kakashi instantly tensed and went on guard when he saw that the voice came from a fairly attractive woman with dark navy-blue hair.

The woman noticed the man's apprehension and said, "Oh I'm so sorry, my name is Tsunami. I'm Tazuna's daughter. Thank you so much for bringing my father home safely"

Kakashi relaxed when the woman introduced herself and then asked, "Where are my students?"

"Oh they're outside, they've been worried sick about you" Tsunami replied.

"Thank you" Kakashi said as he stood up and when he found difficulty moving, he graciously accepted the crutches and made his way out of the house. When he found his students, they were lazing around discussing the medical state of their sensei when he interrupted them and said, "Don't try and kill me off early. I don't have any intention of dying yet, thank you very much"

"SENSEI!" the three of them yelled in unison.

"Yo" the one eyed Jounin said as he raised a hand in greeting and preformed his signature 'Eye Smile', "Now onto more important matters. I think Zabuza is still alive"

"What!?" Sakura screeched causing Kakashi to place his hands over his ears.

"Please don't do that" Kakashi said, "Now as I was saying, when that ANBU took Zabuza away, it was that action that I found most peculiar. Normally an ANBU would remove something significant to the individual as proof and proceed to burn the body on sight, yet instead Zabuza was taken away and to top it off the ANBU used needles to 'kill' him. Everyone knows that ANBU are very knowledgeable in the workings of the human body. Needles would hardly seem like an appropriate weapon of choice"

"So what are we going to do about this?" Sakura asked as her shoulders fell.

"We, by whom I mean you three, are going to train" Kakashi said as all three sets of eyes lit up.

"Cool!" Naruto yelped as he got to his feet, "What are we gonna learn, Kaka-chan-sensei?"

"Don't call me that" Kakashi said as he glared at the blond, "I am going to teach you a simple but effective chakra control technique that will prove invaluable in the future"

"And that would be?" Sasuke asked.

"This" Kakashi said as he walked towards a tree before placing a foot on it and walking up the trunk and back down again.

"You have got to be kidding me" Sasuke said as his and Naruto's shoulders slumped.

"Oh my God, Sensei! How did you do that?" Sakura asked.

"OK I was expecting a reaction like Sakura's to come from you two. Why are you about as thrilled as a snail on a leaf?" Kakashi asked.

"Naruto you want to explain or should I?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto took a step forward and cleared his throat before saying, "Been there, done that, mastered and improved" while performing a series of hand gestures that would raise many questions, none of which a mother would approve of.

Kakashi and Sakura raised an eyebrow at the blond Genin while Sasuke chuckled and said, "Naruto my friend, you would make an excellent drag queen" causing the blond to pale and a horrified pinkette to try and stop herself from letting her imagination get away from herself.

"Yes well as lovely as Naruto would look in high heels and a baby-doll outfit" Kakashi said earning odd looks from his students, "I do think it best to get back to the matter at hand and begin with the training and since the two of you seem to have mastered the technique, why don't you help Sakura then I'll get you started on water walking"

With that said Sasuke innocently pointed to a lake, upon which Kakashi saw clones of Naruto and Sasuke sparring on the surface as if it were solid ground.

"Is there anything you two can't do?" Kakashi asked.

"Well flying for one, but it's still a work in progress" Naruto said bluntly

Kakashi simply raised an eyebrow.

"I'm kidding. Everyone knows that unless you can sprout wings, it's impossible for a human to fly unassisted" Naruto said.

In two separate locations, two people, who didn't know they were related to each other, sneezed.

"Fine! Go do whatever you want" Kakashi said in a minor huff.

The two boys chuckled before Naruto whistled loudly causing the two clones on the lake to disappear and reappear in front of them.

"You two help Sakura-chan defy the laws of gravity. We're going to the hot springs" Naruto said with a grin before the two promptly disappeared down the road.

"Ahhh" Naruto said as he immersed himself in the steaming water, "This is the life"

"Yeah, yeah grandpa" Sasuke said as he splashed water on the blond that soon lead to an all out water fight between the two that lasted several minutes.

After they had calmed down they relaxed for a few moments before Naruto spoke up and said, "You know after all that's happened, I think we need advice. Something about this whole thing doesn't seem right"

"Your right," Sasuke said, "And I think I know just the person"

With that said Sasuke grabbed onto his pendant and closed his eyes. Taking the hint, Naruto also grabbed hold of his pendant, closed his eyes and poured a little bit of chakra into it before mentally calling out to his uncle.

"Hey guys, what's up" Zare's voice resounded in their heads.

"We were wondering if you could give us a bit of information" Sasuke mentally asked.

"Sure, what do you want to know?" Zare replied.

"What do you know about a man by the name of Momochi Zabuza?" Naruto asked.

"Hmmm, I've definitely heard of the man, but I can't say I know much about him. Gimme a sec" Zare said as the connection weakened a little and the boys heard several voices in the back ground.

"Alright here's what I found out" Zare said, "Momochi Zabuza, age 26, currently an A-class missing-nin from Kirigakure, A former ANBU operative and a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Prior to entering the ninja academy he slaughtered every student and teacher during the final graduating exam where students were pit against each other in an every-man-for-himself Battle Royale to the death. After the events of that day, the practice was discontinued and he was, from then on, known as the Demon of the Hidden Mist. After becoming an ANBU operative he attempted a Coup d'état as well as an assassination on the Mizukage, probably to try and put an end to the Blood Line Massacres that still rage on till this day. After the failures, he fled from Kiri along with a few followers and has since been working as a mercenary probably to raise funds to stage another coup. Though he gives the appearance of a blood lusting monster, many believe him to be a very just and honest man who just happens to like the colour red a bit too much, but is willing to forego his ideals if his client demands it"

"Wow, that's... informative" Naruto said.

"What about a man named Gato?" Sasuke asked.

"Gimme a second" Zare said as the background voices started again. When they ended the connection strengthened as Zare said, "Oooo, this man's so juicy it makes me want to swallow acid tipped shuriken. Anyway back to the matter at hand. Gato, age 48, a powerful shipping magnate who tends to use his company as a front for less honest business ventures. An extremely cruel and greedy man, if he has even the slightest chance of making a profit, nothing stops him. He constantly prioritises financial success over any other motives and emotions. He is more than willing to break prior contracts and agreements in order to save money. Gato is also a very ruthless and deals harshly with his enemies, brutally executing anyone who crosses his path. In addition, he had no qualms over killing innocent people. A truly vile and disgusting man if I do say so myself"

"Thanks" Naruto said, "You've been a big help"

"You're very welcome, but I have to ask, what possible use could you have with this information?" Zare asked.

"Well the thing is" Sasuke said before hesitating for a few seconds, "We encountered Zabuza a few days ago and we kinda had to do battle with him"

"WHAT!? Are you two alright?" Zare yelled giving the two boys a massive headache.

"Not anymore now that you gave us a migraine" Naruto said, "but to answer your question were fine. Compared to you the man was like an angry cat. Other than the fact that Kakashi-sensei overworked himself a bit, were fine"

"Fine I'll take your word on this. Besides what kind of uncle would I be if I didn't?" Zare said.

"Technically you're not my uncle" Sasuke pointed out.

"A minor technicality" Zare said while sending a mental image of him waving the comment off, "Anyway, is there anything else you want to know?"

"Nope I think that's about it. Thanks" Naruto said.

"You're very welcome. Let me know if you need anything else and see you when you get back" Zare said before cutting the connection.

The boys relaxed for a few more minutes before Sasuke broke the silence and said, "So what's the plan?"

Over the next three days, the boys would leave Shadow Clones in their places and would head off into the city to investigate Gato's business and gather information. Then one morning just after the boys set out they came across an unusual sight. A person wearing an elegant kimono was busy collecting various herbs and placing them in a basket. Deciding to make their presence known Naruto cleared his throat causing the person to spin around rapidly almost falling over in the process. The person had long black hair and brown eyes as well as soft features that seemed to give an impression of kindness to them.

"Hey you ok there... ok I want to say 'Miss' but after seeing Hinata's cousin a few times I want to say otherwise" Naruto said with a playful smirk.

"No, you are right to think otherwise, I am indeed male" the person said.

"What the hell!? He's cuter then Sakura" Sasuke said wide eyed causing the person to blush.

"Don't mind him" Naruto said to the boy, "He suffers from Hyper-intelligence as well as Chronic-idiocy" while jerking a thumb towards Sasuke.

"Why do you always pick on me?" Sasuke said.

"Like my uncle says, 'I diss because I care'" Naruto said plainly.

Sasuke glared at the blond causing the stranger to start laughing in an almost bubbly fashion.

Naruto chuckle as well before saying, "Well enough about that, my name is Uzumaki Naruto and the Emo-ranger next to me is Uchiha Sasuke. We're ninjas from Konohagakure"

"I am not emo!" Sasuke said loudly.

"You keep telling yourself that and I'll buy you some black nail polish when we get back home" Naruto said.

Sasuke glared at the blond again, time with a popped vein on his forehead and a twitching eye.

The boy started laughing again and after he calmed down he said, "You two are quite amusing, you act almost like brothers. My name is Haku, by the way"

"It's nice to meet you Haku, but I have to ask what are you doing out here. It's kinda dangerous" Naruto said.

"I think I am fairly capable of protecting myself thank you and to answer your question, I am collecting herbs to make medicine. Someone very dear to me is very sick and needs treatment" Haku said.

"An admirable skill" Sasuke said as he took a seat on the wet grass.

"Hey, Haku, can I ask you a question?" Naruto said.

"You just did dobe" Sasuke said.

"Oh thank you Captain Obvious I would have never guessed" Naruto said sarcastically.

Haku chuckled lightly before turning towards the blond and said, "Of course you can"

Naruto took a seat on the grass as he wrapped his arms around his knees and said, "If, for most of your life, you didn't know who your family was, but then were told about them along with undeniable proof, would you try to contact them not knowing whether or not they were still alive?"

"What!? Why are you asking me something like this?" Haku said in shock.

"Naruto what are you going on about?" Sasuke said.

"Sorry, it's just that... ever since I found out about my family, I've wondered if whether or not they are still alive. Everyday I've wanted to ask my uncle but the doubt kept my mouth shut. It's gotten to the point that it's almost unbearable and now that we are outside Fire Country, I can try and contact them without any unnecessary risks and don't ask me about the risks, it's a sore topic" Naruto said solemnly.

"Naruto, why didn't you tell anyone about this? Why didn't you tell me about this?" Sasuke said.

"Like I said the doubt kept me quiet and I didn't tell you because I didn't want to drag up old memories" Naruto said while burying his face in his arms.

Haku could feel the pain in the blonde's emotions and said, "If I were you, I would try and contact them. Though I know that my family is dead, if there was a hint that any of them had survived, I would take it, but for now I have a very precious person whom I can call family"

"That's kinda like us" Sasuke said, "The two of us only have our uncles left and each other"

"Thank you for your honest answer Haku" Naruto said with a smile, "I finally have no doubt and am ready to face the news about my family head on"

The three of them talked for hours mainly about their hopes and dreams until Haku looked up and was startled by how high the sun was.

"Time to go?" Naruto asked.

"I'm afraid so. I need to get back with the herbs" Haku said.

"That's ok" Sasuke said, "We need to go somewhere as it is anyway"

Haku smiled as he picked up his basket and left.

Once the boy was well out of sight and hearing range, Sasuke sighed I almost in defeat and said, "It will be difficult to fight him when the time comes"

"Yeah, but hopefully after we finish carrying out our plans there won't be any need to fight him" Naruto said with a sigh.

After a few silent moments, Sasuke looked up at his friend and said, "So... hot springs?"

"Sure" Naruto replied as the two rushed off towards their destination.

That night before turning in, Naruto and Sasuke made clones of themselves and sent them out to carry out their plan to complete this mission. As the clones jumped silently over the roof tops, they stopped when they landed on top of a warehouse near the docks and proceeded with their plan.

Watching through the various sky lights, the clones observed the comings and goings until they were satisfied, they had an adequate idea regarding the layout of the warehouse and made their way down one side of the building and into an office.

"Alright, you seal the room, I'll start draining the fat-shit dry" Sasuke-clone said as he activated his Sharingan.

Naruto-clone nodded his agreement and began his task. After several hours later, the boys had thoroughly ripped Gato of his asset and handed them over to more deserving and capable members of the public. Contents of his vaults now sat in the kunai pouches of both boys in the form of storage scrolls and when the banks opened in the morning the accounts would be liquidated. Sasuke had memorised many signatures during their investigations around the city, so both boys knew there would be many happy people when the news got out. Finally finished, the boys returned the room to as it was and set up a trap on Gato's seat before jumping onto the ceiling and concealing themselves. When Gato entered his office, he had two subordinates following him. As he turned and glared at them, his bulbous rippled as he literally spat out, "I want that damn bridge builder's daughter brought to me immediately. I need insurance in case those bloody ninja freaks fail"

Once the two men scrambled out, Gato slammed the door and said, "Those damned ninja, they better win the battle today." His laughter turned to cackling, "Not like I'm going to pay them for their services. Once they take out the bridge builder I will have won and my men can take out the ninja"

Sitting down in his plush chair he winced as he felt something prick his behind before freezing. Panicking as he was unable to move he almost had a heart attack as he noticed the ceiling shift and two of those ninjas he had been cursing dropped down.

Naruto-clone smirked at the panic written across the man's face as Sasuke-clone moved towards the window. Noticing the two underlings, he flung a pair of kunai and smiled in satisfaction when the two men went down with the bladed weapon sticking out of their heads.

As the poison took its toll, Gato's breathing finally came to an end as the man slumped over dead. Clearing the desk, Naruto-clone and Sasuke-clone placed several plastic bags and with a quick hand movement, Sasuke decapitated the body and quickly placed the head in a bag while they both stopped themselves from vomiting. Naruto-clone grabbed hold of the bag and placed it in a money sack before hefting it over his back and the two leapt out the window towards the bridge.

At the bridge, Naruto and the rest of Team 7 were locked in combat against Haku and Zabuza. Kakashi was facing off against Zabuza while Naruto and Sakura were against a Mizu Bunshin and Sasuke was trapped in a dome of mirrors fighting against Haku while trying his best to hold back and not get killed in the process. Suddenly Naruto felt a familiar presence and yelled out, "They're back" and promptly dispatched the clone in front of him.

As the two clones landed next to him, Naruto-clone said, "Mission accomplished. The man's poorer than dead dirt, and we got proof" as the clone did a salute then handed over the necessary items.

"Smart ass" Naruto said as the clone dispelled itself.

Meanwhile with Sasuke was trying to defend against the rain of needles when he heard a knocking on one of the mirrors and a voice say, "Yo, Boss! You still alive"

"Of course I'm alive! Now hurry up and dispel, I'm low on chakra" Sasuke growled out.

"One chakra cheesecake coming up" the clone said as it popped a few soldier pills and waited for them to kick in before dispelling.

As Sasuke felt the chakra return to him, he quickly ran through a series of hand seals and said, "I'm sorry for doing this Haku"

Haku stopped his assault when the raven head said his name and was shocked he even recognised him since he was wearing his ANBU mask. As a result he was caught off guard when Sasuke yelled out, "Raiton: Chidori Nagashi"

Haku yelled as the electrical current rolling off Sasuke's body coursed through him and shattered his mirrors in the process. When the Jutsu ended, he fell to the floor unable to move and groaned in pain as the odd spark danced across his singed body.

"HAKU!" Zabuza yelled when he heard the boy scream. Tossing Kakashi to the side, he promptly began sprinting toward the long haired boy; sword raised, but stopped when Naruto called out to him and said, "Zabuza! There is no longer a need to fight; your client is no more"

To drive his point home Naruto opened the money sack and tossed the contents onto the ground causing Kakashi to wince and Sakura to squeal in terror.

"As an added incentive I hereby buy out your services" Naruto said as he tossed a wad of cash at the bulky man's feet, "There's five thousand Ryo there and another fifty when our contract expires. If I were you I would take it, it's an infinitely better deal considering Gato had no intention of paying you"

With that said Zabuza lowered his sword and picked up the money before looking towards the boy he saw as a son and remembered what that truly meant.

"Don't worry, I used a non-lethal version of my Jutsu. He's just paralysed for the moment" Sasuke said as he stepped out from amongst the debris.

Suddenly they heard the roar of a mob and turned to see several of Gato's thugs standing at one end of the bridge brandishing all sorts of weapons. Zabuza and Kakashi instantly went into attack poses before Naruto and Sasuke rushed past them and stood in front of them.

"Boys what are you doing? Get behind us" Kakashi yelled.

"Kakashi-sensei" Naruto said as calm as possible, back still towards his comrades causing Kakashi to listen intently, "I'm sure you have been wondering just how strong the two of us are, well Sasuke and I are at roughly the same level of skill. Now answer me, during this whole mission, how many elements have you seen me wield?"

"Two" Kakashi said, "Why?"

Naruto chuckled lightly before saying, "You're very observant. Now you may want to pay attention and use what happens next to measure our current level of skill"

Naruto suddenly went through a series of hand signs and called out, "Suiton: Dai Mizu Tama"

Kakashi watched wide eyed as from both sided of the bridge, two thick streams of water rose up and coalesced around Naruto's outstretched palms and formed into a large ball of water about twice Naruto height in radius before the blond effortlessly moved it in between himself and Sasuke.

"So" Sasuke said as he continued to stare at the thugs, "Lethal or non-lethal?"

"Non-lethal, I've had enough death for one day" Naruto said.

"Good cause I'm already low on chakra. Someone needs to improve those disgusting soldier pills" Sasuke said before running through a series of hand signs and called out, "Raiton: Rakurai" and thrust his electrically charged hands into the ball of water.

Once the two were satisfied they both put one foot in front before dragging the rest of their bodies and the large electrical water ball and yelled out, "KOCHO!"while swinging their arms forward and flinging the hydro-electrical menace at the now charging thugs. As the ball left their hand it exploded into thousands of very large electrically charged droplets and rocketed toward the mob. Everyone watched in a mixture of shock, awe and horror as the collaboration Jutsu slammed into the mob, thoroughly electrocuting them in the process.

Once the carnage was over Naruto and Sasuke eased themselves onto the ground as Zabuza stepped up behind them and said, "You know kid, you're alright. So what are the details of my new contract...Boss?"

Naruto looked up at the bandaged man and chuckled before saying, "Simple, just do whatever I tell you to without kill everyone and you get your money. Now our first order of business is to rest up. Stalling for time is more draining and tedious then I thought. Our second order of business is to finish this bridge so that we can get home"

"Ok then. I'm up for a bit of manual labour. Now if you don't mind me asking just how strong are you two?" Zabuza asked.

"Only if you promise never to tell anyone, if word got back to Konoha there would be a witch-hunt" Sasuke said.

"Why? I thought Konoha was all about that Will of Fire and shit"

"Let's just say there are certain circumstances that have made me less favourable in the public eye" Naruto said cryptically.

"Very well, I know when I've stepped on a touchy subject" Zabuza said.

"The two of us can wield three elements flawlessly; together we make a full set. Combined with the fact that Sasuke here has the Sharingan and were both skilled in Taijutsu and at least five different weapons each, you do the math and figure out how strong we are" Naruto said, loud enough for Kakashi to hear.

"So? What? Genin?" Zabuza said.

"Oooo, I like him" Naruto said to Sasuke, "his sense of humour is as good as my uncle's. I knew keeping him alive was a good idea"

"Thanks for the compliment I guess" Zabuza said as he rubbed the back of his head before jabbing a thumb at a still dumbstruck Kakashi and said, "So you want me to smack the silent scarecrow back to his senses or you got it covered"

"Meh. Leave him be its all good" Sasuke said.

"You got it" Zabuza said as he began making his way towards Haku.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**Wow this is officially the longest chapter I have ever written. I'm actually quite proud of myself. Now what I would really like is your impressions on my fight scenes. I love writing fight scenes even more than comedy. It really helps me vent stress by picturing my characters beat someone to an indistinguishable pulp and it lets my sadistic alter ego out for a bit of fun (I just realised I forgot what I called him) Its been a while since he's tried to show himself since there hasn't been much that has pissed me off in the last year or so. Oh well, I'm sure he'll rear his psychotic head when I go back home on vacation.**

**So a little bit about this chapter, I, for one, like Zabuza and respect him as a fellow human. I've read a few fan fics where Zabuza lives and they all make him out to be an honest and honourable person and I like that possible aspect about him so I decided to use it. As for Haku, I see him as the person who keeps Zabuza on a leash now that they are no longer bound to mercenary work and can see him either over ruling Zabuza or giving him a swift whack over the head for saying something stupid. Later on in the story I can actually see Zare and Zabuza getting along, (That is after Zabuza pissed his pants for nearly killing Naru) and Zare constantly pushing Zabuza's limits with the bulky man being completely unable to do anything about it cause Zare could easily take him out without even thinking about it.**

**So please read and review and let me know how you feel about this chapter.**

**P.S. I've decided to call my Jutsu Section Jutsu-Jutsu no Jutsu from now on.**

**Jutsu-Jutsu no Jutsu**

**1. Gutai Ka: Seinaru Kaze - Materialise: Holy Wind (I think)**

**2. Shogeki to Ifu: Raiden - Shock and Awe: Raiden. I know this feels very Bleach but trust me its not. I'll explain the need for the call outs in the next chapter so please don't kill me for this.**

**3. Katon: Nanba - Fire Element: Flame Wave. Made this up.**

**4. Katon: Dai Nanba - Fire Element: Grand Flame Wave. More powerful version of Flame Wave.**

**5. Raiton: Denpa Ken - Lightning Element: Electric Wave Sword. Made this up too.**

**6. Chidori Nagashi - Chidori Current. We all know about that now don't we.**

**7. Suiton: Dai Mizu Tama - Water Element: Great Water Ball. Made up**

**8. Kocho - Storm Surge. Made up. I was going to make the boys able to combine their chakra to make the more advanced element but thought better of it. Too much hassle down the road.**

**Well I think that's about it. If I missed anything Let me know and I'll add it. Once again please read and review and check out the poll. I'll see you next time.**

**Enjoy**


	8. A Family's Love

Chapter 8

Two day was all it took to complete the bridge; it didn't hurt knowing that much of the work was done by Naruto and his seemingly endless supply of Shadow Clones. Once the bridge was complete, Team 7 and Team Peach, a name Naruto placed on Zabuza and Haku, which irked the bandaged mercenary to no end, decided to part ways.

"Zabuza" Naruto said as the former Kiri-nins turned to leave, "Here take this"

"What's this all about?" Zabuza asked as Naruto handed over a substantially large wad of cash and an envelope.

"Here is the payment for your services and the envelope is my last request of you" Naruto said as his face flickered with uncertainty for less than a second before returning to normal.

"Sure, what you got in mind?" Zabuza asked.

"Before you go to Kiri, I want you to deliver this letter to the Uzukage of Uzugakure. It's important" Naruto said, almost pleadingly.

Zabuza was about to speak before, Haku placed a hand over the man's mouth and said, "We'll do it. You have my word Naruto-kun" with a knowing smile

Naruto smiled at the long haired boy before the voices from his team alerted and was forced to leave.

"Bye guys it's been fun" Naruto said.

"See ya 'round kid. If you ever need help just gimme a ring. I'll carve up the baddies like a suckling pig" Zabuza called out causing the blond to laugh at the colourful imagery.

It took a day and a half for Team 7 to return to Konoha after which the group was given time off missions to train and such.

A week later Zare and Obito were walking up the steps of the Hokage's Tower as they were summoned in order to receive an update on Naruto's and Sasuke's progress. As they entered the office, Zare noticed the Hokage tapping his table in an odd fashion while Kakashi waited for them and acted. Performing several hand signs behind his back, while making it look like he was closing the door, Zare then performed a blink that lasted a fraction of a second longer than usual before saying, "The interference barrier is in place, what is the matter, Hiruzen?"

"What the? How did you?" Obito said, very much confused.

"The Hokage was tapping his finger in a special repetitive pattern, it's a more complex version of Morse Code that I developed. Once decoded, it spelled out one word 'Trouble'" Zare said.

"Then you would be correct" Kakashi said, "I appears we have a problem"

At the same time several miles away, Zabuza and Haku stood in an office as the person in front of them read a letter.

"You think this is some kind of joke?" the person said.

"I-I'm afraid I don't quite understand Uzukage-sama" Haku replied, it was decided that Zabuza would remain quiet unless it was really necessary, the man deemed himself cursed when it came to verbal interactions especially when it involved people in power.

"This letter, who gave it to you?" the Uzukage asked.

"A boy by the name of Uzumaki Naruto" Haku replied.

"DON'T LIE TO ME" the Uzukage yelled, in unbridled fury, out as she stood up and smashed her fist into the table, "I DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU HEARD THIS NAME FROM, BUT EVERYONE IN THIS VILLAGE KNOWS THAT UZUMAKI NARUTO IS DEAD"

"Your Eminence, I don't quite know what the situation is, but I can assure you that the letter in your hand was given to us by a blond haired, blue eyed Konoha Genin by the name of Uzumaki Naruto. We encountered each other in Wave Country and have even done battle with him. In fact if it weren't for him and his teammate, the Land of Waves would still be under the influence of Gato and the two of us would most likely be dead. I am more than willing to participate in an interrogation if that is what it is willing to take in order for you to believe me" Haku said.

"Haku" Zabuza started but was interrupted by Haku who said, "Please, Zabuza-sama, let me do this. Naruto-kun is my friend; I fail to see the reason he would have to create a lie as elaborate and with as many repercussions as this. I believe in him and I believe there is a horrible misunderstanding going on here"

The Uzukage, having calmed down somewhat after hearing the ice user speak, tilted her head to the ceiling and yelled out, "HIKARU, KAORU! GET IN HERE RIGHT NOW!"

A few seconds later, two boys, a couple inches taller than Haku, appeared in a swirl of red and yellow mist respectively. Other than the fact that one of them had red hair and the other blond, the two were identical right down to their greyish-blue eyes and muscle build.

"You called?" they both said in unison.

"I want the two of you to find two other Chunin level shinobi, skilled in information gathering and to immediately depart for Wave Country. I want you to gather as much information as possible on the recent series of events. A possible conspiracy has come to light and I want to have as much information as possible before I decide to give the order to burn a Hidden village to the ground and turn the country associated with the village into a smouldering crater. I am deeming this an S-rank mission in the guise of a B-rank. You have four days to bring me a full mission report. Dismissed!" the Uzukage ordered.

"HAI! UZUKAGE-SAMA!" both boys said in unison, before saluting their leader and disappearing in swirls of red and yellow mist.

"As for you two" the Uzukage said as she turned her attention to the two former Kiri-nin, "I hereby place you under house arrest until I have had a chance to properly examine the mission report"

Zabuza was about to protest before Haku cut him off again and said, "As you wish Uzukage-sama"

"Haku!" Zabuza said with warning.

"No, Zabuza-sama we will comply. Clearly we have been caught up in something much bigger than ourselves or our cause. Until this matter is sorted out properly, we will do as asked" Haku said before turning to face the Uzukage who nodded before two Uzu-ANBUs appeared and placed chakra cuffs on both men.

As they turned to leave, the Uzukage caught their attention one last time before saying, "As much faith as you two have, I hope, for your sake, that the information about my son is indeed true otherwise your heads will roll"

Zabuza looked at the red haired, grey eyed woman, the leader and ruler of both Uzugakure and Whirlpool Country, with wide eyes while Haku couldn't help but smile knowing that he had played a positive part in all this.

As Zare and Obito sat themselves in the living room, they realised that there was no other sound coming from the house, which was understandable since the boys were asleep considering how late it was.

"So where do we go from here?" Obito said with a solemn expression.

Zare thought for a moment before leaning forward and said, "To be blatantly honest, I've been waiting for something like this to happen"

"What!?" Obito said with a mixture of shock and disgust.

"Calm down" Zare said, "This will prove the perfect way for me to pull Naruto out of Konoha and take him back to Whirlpool. I promised myself that I would reunite the boy with his family and I believe now is the perfect opportunity to do so"

"Then what about Sasuke and myself. That death order was placed on our heads too, you know" Obito said.

"I know" Zare said voice slightly raised before regaining his composure and saying, "I plan to take you along with me. Until this situation is properly dealt with, Konohagakure is no longer safe for either of us, until then you will be welcomed in Uzugakure as one of our own"

"Thanks" Obito said with a warm smile, "But are you sure this is the only way?"

"The whole way back, I kept running various scenarios through my head and the decision to escape offered the best results. It would be incredibly difficult to try and protect you three while fending off that many adversaries without hurting you guys in the process. Even Umbrea suggests we flee to Whirlpool" Zare said.

"Indeed" Umbrea said as she leapt out of her retainer in the form of a large panther, "Prioritising your well being will leave us unable to fight at full capacity and I for one do not want familial blood on my hands. Taking refuge in Whirlpool is the safest option"

"Very well" Obito said with a sigh, "So how do we do this?"

"Start by packing essentials and various personal items. I'll give you a special seal that will create self sustaining Kage Bunshins so the boys won't notice. We only tell them the day we're leaving. I'll get to work on the escape plan itself and stock up on supplies; I'll even get to work on my special energy bars. They'll keep us going in case we have any problems" Zare said.

"Got it" Obito said as he stood up, "So what do we do about the boys?"

"I'll activate Umbrea's Shadow Eye Network and have it track the boys and their surroundings. Since Kakashi gave the boys the day off tomorrow, I'll be able to finalise the plan with the Hokage without raising suspicions"

"Thanks... I don't know what I would do without you" Obito said as he began to leave the room.

"Most likely, you would be dead, Naruto would have most likely lost his mind if not died and Sasuke would have followed the path of hatred and revenge" Zare said with a light chuckle.

"Then that means we're damn luck to have you on Konoha's side" Obito said with a hearty laugh.

"I was never on Konoha's side to begin with. It just so happens that the people I care about live here so I will do everything in my power to keep them safe. The moment those people are no longer affiliated with this village is the moment I walk out of those gates and never look back. I won't even bat an eyelid if the whole country is burned to the ground after such time" Zare said seriously.

"Wow" Obito said with revelation, "Then I guess were lucky to have you as a loved one"

"Damn right" Zare said with a playful smirk, "Now off to bed with you, I have scheming to do"

"Yes grandpa" Obito said while rolling his eyes.

"And Obito" Zare said causing the elder Uchiha to look over his shoulder, "Don't sass your grandpa. Now to bed with you!" resulting in both men bursting into much needed laughter.

A week and a half passed and early one morning a small group of people were making their way to the Hidden Ninja Village known as Konoha.

24 year old Hagane Kotetsu and his partner Kamizuki Izumo were bored out of their minds. It seemed The Fates had destined them to a life of gate duty, one of the most boring and tedious jobs set aside for Chunin level shinobi. Hardly anyone would visit from outside the Hidden Village and those that passed through the gate needed only give them a passing glance since they were either Konoha shinobi or had special passes that allowed them to pass through the village gates as they pleased.

So it came a quite a surprise when three guys and a girl, all wearing travelling cloaks, stood in front of them.

"Hi, were travellers from Tea Country and we were wondering if you could help us?" a woman in her late teens to early twenties, with long black hair and brown eyes said.

"Huh?" Kotetsu said until he realised there were people in front of him before scrambling in front of his desk and addressing the group, "I'm so sorry, how may I be of service?"

The two youngest boys, both with brown hair, green eyes and identical features seeing as they were twins, said in unison, "Not much of a guard now are you?" this comment earned the two boys a swift whack from the final male who looked like an older version of the twins as he said, "Cram it you two. You should learn some respect"

The two boys simply rubbed their heads as the woman rolled her eyes and with a sigh said, "Please ignore them, they ran into one too many walls when they were kids. Anyway I was wondering if you could give us directions. We're travellers from Tea Country and we've come to visit our uncle, I was hoping you could give us directions to the Residential District?"

"Sure the Residential District is on the east side of town, civilian in the north, shinobi in the south. Just sign in and you can enter the village"

"Thank you" the woman said and after all four of them had signed in they continued on into the village.

It was mid-morning and Zare was reading the newspaper with Umbrea curled up in his lap while contemplating lunch for the day. The boys were out training with their team while Obito was out earning his pay performing mission that didn't require him to leave the village. After what he was told a week ago, he wanted to make sure he was in town when the escape plan was put into full effect. The Hokage had willingly agreed to this and put on record that Obito had seemed a little haggard after his last few missions outside the village and decided to keep him in the village so he could relax without shirking his duties as a Shinobi of the Leaf.

After hearing a series of knocks on the front door, Zare removed his reading glasses, placed his newspaper on the table before heading towards the door, Umbrea following closely behind. Although he didn't need glasses he always felt they made him look good and well as more refined therefore always kept a non-powered pair with himself at all times. When he opened the door he was met with an unusual sight, in front of him was a rather attractive woman, probably in her early twenties with long black hair and brown eyes. Behind here were three teenage boys, two of whom were twins, and were currently trying to get at each other's throats while the older one had a semi-bored look on his face and was holding the two apart by their collars.

"May I help you?" Zare asked.

"Sure you could let us in for a start" the woman said.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Zare said his voice filled with very serious undertones. The sheer openness of the woman's statement caused Zare to go on guard immediately while playing it cool. At the same time the two twin boys had calmed down enough and noticed the black cat sitting next to the man at the door causing one of them to say, "Hey Um-chan, how's it going?"

"WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP CALLING ME THAT!?" Umbrea said, clearly displeased, "You're worse than your little brother"

"Wait, What!?" Zare said before leaning forward and staring at the woman in front of him through squinted eyes, "Chizuru?"

The woman chuckled lightly before dispelling her Henge and said, "Hello Uncle"

Zare stood dumbstruck for a few minutes before returning to his senses and almost squealing out, "Oh my God, Chizuru what are you doing here? Wait, if you're here then that means" as he looked over his niece's shoulder to see that the three teens had also dispelled their Henges and said, "Takashi! Hikaru! Kaoru! God you guys have grown so much I barely recognise you"

Hikaru and Kaoru gave their uncle a foxy grin while Takashi settled for a warm smile.

"Well enough front door pleasantries, come give your uncle a hug before we head inside. We've got so much to talk about. What are you doing here? How's your mother? How's your..." the last name was caught in his throat as he couldn't bring himself to say it without bring up guilt ridden memories.

"There fine. Kaa-san's the reason we're actually here. We'll give you the details inside" Chizuru said as she gave her uncle a hug before stepping inside the house. Shortly after Zare was glomped by his two twin nephews and if it weren't for his abilities as a ninja he would have fallen over.

Hugging them tightly, Zare released them and looked at them with a warm smile before they too entered the house. Finally he turned his attention to his oldest nephew who just stood there with a hand outstretched. Zare simply folded his arms and looked at the strapping young man through half closed eyes and said, "Takashi, as fine a young man you have turned out to be, I do expect a hug from you otherwise I will be forced to step out of character and smother you in kisses. The choice is yours"

Takashi's eyes widened at the prospect and quickly engaged his uncle in a hug causing the older man to chuckle and return the hug before saying, "It's good to see all of you again" before stepping to the side and letting the young man in.

After two hours Zare was brought up to speed with what had happened with their lives since they returned to Whirlpool and what had transpired over the last week and a half. Chizuru, now twenty, was now a Jounin and had students that had been promoted to Chunin during the previous exams. Takashi, age seventeen, was a Chunin level shinobi and was more than ready for a promotion but wanted to wait before making the transition. Hikaru and Kaoru, now fifteen, had made Chunin last year and were doing very well for themselves as ninjas and as the 'Twin Terrors' due to all the pranks they pulled.

Zare expressed his pride at his niece and nephews before turning solemn and telling them what happened over the last twelve years in the Hidden Leaf Village. Their faces expressed unbridled fury, rivalling their mother's after hearing of the treatment their little brother had suffered at the hands of the village and the state in which Zare had found him in seven years prior. They were saddened at the pain their father's student had experienced when he lost his family except for his nephew and elated at the fate the Kyuubi had succumbed to, but best of all they were overflowing with pride when they were told of their youngest sibling's antics in Wave country as well as slightly saddened knowing that the boy had already taken a life before even hitting puberty, even the twins had yet to face such a situation.

"But all in all Naruto has turned out for the better. He holds no resentment towards the villagers and even finds amusement in the taunts now that the demon is truly dead. However, only Obito, Sasuke, Naruto and I know the truth. The rest of the village including the Hokage still believe he's the Kyuubi Jinchuriki" Zare said.

"Well I'm glad" Chizuru said. Just then they heard the front door slide open and close before a familiar voice filled their ears.

"I'm home" Obito said as he stepped into the house, "and I got the groceries"

"Obito, I think you'll have to go back out and get more stuff, we have guests" Zare called out.

"Oh really" Obito said as he entered the kitchen and froze. The four 'guests' turned towards their father's former student and either smiled or grinned while Zare settled for an amused smile while summoning two Shadow Tendrils to take hold of the groceries, which were threatening to fall from Obito's loosening grasp.

"What the hell is going on here?" was all that escaped Obito's lips causing all the other occupants to smile even wider before Chizuru spoke up and said, "It's good to see you too Obito-san, how have you been? Fine? That's lovely, please sit we have much to discuss I'm sure"

Obito simply followed orders silently and Zare laughed at his niece's comments.

This time around, Obito was given a more condensed version of both past and recent events and was quickly brought up to speed.

Shortly after there was a loud bang and the front door was opened and closed rather harshly and a pair of voices made themselves known.

"Were home" said the voices that the four siblings could not recognise but their imaginations simply went with it. Seeing the four of them get up rather quickly, Zare brought them back down using Shadow Tendrils and hissed out an order to 'sit' before saying, "We're in the kitchen"

"How was your day?" Obito asked.

"Oh you know same old, same old" Naruto said as both himself and Sasuke stepped into the kitchen and stopped in surprise at the extra members in the room.

"Oh I didn't know we were having guests" Sasuke said as he looked over the four new faces and noticed several similarities between them.

"Naruto" Zare said catching the blonde's attention, "I have a simple task for you, which if you get right will give you the right to choose what we have for lunch today"

Naruto's eyes lit up at the information and was almost begging to be told his task.

"I want you to take a good look at our four guests and tell me who they are. A simple task is it not" Zare said.

Naruto looked at the four faces before settling on the red haired woman and said, "Kaa-chan?"

Chizuru's face twisted in absolute horror as Takashi chuckled and the twins were hysterical.

"I don't really look as old as Kaa-san do I?" Chizuru said as she stared at her three other brothers.

"I don't know, our Otouto seems to think so and this is the first time he's met you" red haired Kaoru said while Takashi folded his arms and nodded sagely resulting in Chizuru promptly smashing her younger brothers' faces into the table.

"Huh? Kaa-san? Otouto? What the hell is going on here?" Naruto said.

Hikaru, the only sibling not either fuming with rage or nursing a bleeding nose, looked at the younger blond before turning to his uncle and saying, "Not exactly a prime intellectual is he?"

"I'm afraid so" Zare said with a sigh, "I've scoured the boy's mind countless times to try and find what is hindering him, but to no avail. To sum him up, Naruto has your father's obliviousness, your mother's love of pranks, your late grandfather's stupidity and that ungodly tenacity that runs through the veins of every Uzumaki to grace this planet we call Earth"

Naruto's eyes suddenly widened in realisation before he dashed out the kitchen only to return a few seconds later with a picture in his hands. He looked from the picture to the four faces several times before looking up and saying, "Onee-chan"

"Yes?" Chizuru said out of pure habit before turning to face the blond and looked at him with concern as he had tears in his eyes.

"Onee-chan" Naruto said as his face briefly contorted in mild anguish before returning to normal.

"What is it Naruto?" Chizuru asked, getting more and more concerned.

"Onee-chan" Naruto cried out as he leapt into his sister's bosom and hugged her for all he was worth, while calling out to her between heavy sobs and near endless tears.

Chizuru looked at her uncle, worry splattered across her face. What she got was a gentle smile and a nodding head. Gently wrapping her hands around her youngest brother, Chizuru rubbed his back soothingly while saying, "It's ok Naru, Onee-chan's here, and so are Takashi, Hikaru and Kaoru. We're all here and we'll never leave you alone again we promise"

With that said, Chizuru pushed back from the table as her three remaining brothers joined in the hug to bring peace to their distraught little brother.

After several minutes Naruto was able to calm down enough to get a good look at his siblings before saying, "So what are you guys doing here and where's Kaa-chan?"

"Kaa-san is back in Whirlpool. We had her stay behind because for one she has a duty to the people and two, the moment she found out what happened during your life, she wouldn't hesitate to declare war and have the entire village incinerated" Takashi said, "As to why we're here, we got your letter, little brother, that's why"

"How would she be able to declare war?" Naruto asked.

"That's because she's-" Chizuru started but stopped herself when Zare shook his head violently and gave her a 'do not tell him' look.

"Let's just say she has a lot of political influence" Takashi said.

Naruto smiled happily as Takashi ruffled the boy's hair before jumping off his sister and onto his feet.

Immediately noticing Sasuke semi-brooding in a corner, Naruto grabbed hold of his best friend and dragged him in front of his siblings.

"Guys I want you to meet Uchiha Sasuke, my teammate and best friend" Naruto said with a fox like grin on his face.

"Thank you for taking care of our little brother, Sasuke. You have the eternal gratitude of the entire Uzumaki Clan" Chizuru said.

"Oh I uh I um well uh" was all Sasuke could say causing Naruto to look at him wide eyed and saying, "Gods above, an Uchiha was left speechless! Obi-oji, speed dial the Priest and tell him to bring out the heavy artillery it looks like this one is gonna be a doozy"

Obito and Zare simply laughed while the Uzumaki Siblings were left confused and Sasuke with a twitch. Deciding to exact revenge on the laughing blond Genin, Sasuke dropped to the ground and performed a lateral leg sweep, knocking Naruto off his feet. Time seemed to slow down as Naruto hung in mid air, body falling forward as Sasuke used the momentum from his strike to continue spinning while getting back onto his feet and raising the same outstretched leg above his head almost perpendicular to the ground before bring his heel down on Naruto's head and subsequently smashing the blonde's face straight through the floor while calling out, "Tsutenkyaku!" and all this happened in just over a second.

Everyone looked over the event with a raised eyebrow except Zare who simply took a sip of his tea before saying, "As lovely as the 'Heaven Kick of Pain' is, it just doesn't have as much oomph as when Tsunade uses it. I'm sorry Sasuke but you will have to remove it from your arsenal. Now if you would be so kind, would you please remove my nephew's head from the crater that is my kitchen floor? Those floor boards were expensive and getting blood out of them is a horribly daunting task"

Sasuke simply shrugged before yanking the unconscious blonde's head from the hole, turning him over and slapping him a few times while yelling out, "Wake up!"

"Is it lunch yet?" Naruto said still in a daze.

"He's fine" Sasuke said before letting the blond drop like a sack of potatoes and making his way over to the sink for a glass of water.

"You can just feel the love can't you" Zare said with a smirk before taking another sip of his tea, "Homicidal love, but love none the less"

That evening it was decided that dinner was going to be ramen, since everyone was too excited during the day to cook, much to all the Uzumaki siblings' delight. Turns out they did indeed take after their father.

As they walked down the streets, all of them noticed the confused looks the Uzu-siblings got as well as the hateful glares the youngest sibling received. Even though Naruto ignored them, everyone could tell it still bothered him. There was a reason that the truth of the Kyuubi's fate was hidden and that was because there was no point in telling them. Even if the truth was revealed the people of the village would never see it that way. They were already too deep in their petty delusions to understand the truth let alone accept it so the status quo was left as it was. So for now the former Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune would have to deal with the misplaced hatred and hurtful murmurs now deemed false by the Laws of the Universe, but luckily that's all they were, hateful murmurs. Ever since news got around that Zare had kicked the council chamber doors down and demanded custody of Naruto, the true story being edited heavily for the public, the mob attacks stopped. It didn't hurt to know that the day after Naruto's training with Zare began; they walked through the shopping district with Umbrea in the form of a larger than normal black panther and Naruto on her back having the time of his life, while she gave anyone who so much as looked at Naruto hatefully a low but incredibly blood lusting growl.

However, all that changed when someone decided to be stupid and threw a rock at the younger blond, leaving a nasty cut on his forehead. The sheer rage and killing intent coming off Naruto's seven companions was very palpable as everyone in the vicinity ran in fear while the culprit stood frozen in terror. Obito and Sasuke had their Sharingans on full blast, spinning madly while Zare had activated his Mukogan simply itching for the man to slip up so he could place him in a horrifying Genjutsu, but before he could act there was a cry of pain as the man was pinned to the ground, one arm behind him gripped by Takashi who was straddling the man's back. When the man started struggling, Takashi gripped the man's hand and bent it backwards, snapping the wrist causing him to release a howl of pain. Next the elder blond leaned forward and in a soft but deadly voice said, "If you so much as look at my little brother again, I will not hesitate to rip your heart and show it to you" before sitting back up, grabbing onto the man's other wrist and yanking the arm backwards forcefully, dislocating the shoulder in the process. The man howled in pain before going limp and slipping into unconsciousness.

Takashi got up off the man and made his way back to the group where Chizuru said, "Damn, that's the first time I've seen you pissed, Takashi. You're usually so calm and controlled"

"Yes well no one hurts my little brother and gets away with it" Takashi said.

"In any case, thanks for acting before I did" Zare said as he kneeled in front of Naruto and began healing his wound, "Otherwise I wouldn't have hesitated to painfully turn him into a mindless vegetable before tearing his head off. You ok Naruto"

"Yeah, but why did you do that, Taka-nii?" Naruto said.

"Simple, I'm your big brother, I care about you" Takashi said while smiling at the younger blonde's term of endearment.

"Yeah, we all do" Chizuru said while taking out a handkerchief and wetting it with water chakra before wiping the blood off her younger brother.

Naruto chuckled happily when he saw his family smiling warmly at him.

"You better believe it little bro" Hikaru said as he wrapped an arm around his little brother.

"Yeah" Kaoru said as he wrapped his arm around the Genin from the other side, "Now show us where this Ichiraku Ramen is, cause we're starving"

This caused Naruto to give his infamous foxy grin, which caused a domino effect until all five siblings were sporting grins of their own as Zare said, "Ahhh, the infamous Uzumaki grin, capable of melting the hearts of friends and foes alike. I was hoping to get it registered as a Kekkei Genkai, but seeing as how you can do it, Obito, I'll have to settle for a chakra-less Hiden Jutsu instead"

As the group entered Ichiraku Ramen, they were greeted by the proprietor, Teuchi, and his daughter Ayame.

"Quite a big group you got with you today, Naruto-kun" Ayame said as she stepped out from the back room.

"Indeed, though I can help but see a resemblance between the four new faces, friends of yours?" Teuchi said.

"Can you keep a secret?" Naruto said.

"Of course, Naruto-kun, you can trust us" Ayame said.

"They're my older brothers and sister" Naruto said with a happy smile.

"WHAT!?" Teuchi and Ayame said at the same time.

"Please don't shout we are in a family dining establishment you know" Zare said while wiggling a finger in his ear to try and undo the ringing while the rest of the group laughed and the two proprietors blushed slightly.

"But how are they your siblings? I thought you were an orphan" Ayame asked.

"Actually-" Chizuru started.

"Actually that's where I will have to bring this conversation to an end. It's not that we don't trust you; it's just that the possible repercussions of the information regarding Naruto's family being made public are far too grave to consider. Just know that Naruto does indeed have a family and I hope you will keep this conversation a secret" Zare said.

"If it means Naruto's safety is brought into question then 'mum's' the word. We would hate to have anything happen to our favourite customer" Teuchi said while Ayame nodded.

"Well now that's settled, I do believe you have eight hungry customers ready to make you a very rich man" Zare said.

"Haiyo~" Teuchi said as they got to work.

The next day the four Uzu-siblings, in the guise of a Henge, went to the Hokage's Memorial along with Naruto to pay their respects to their deceased father before following their youngest brother to one of the training grounds to observe him and his team. After that they returned to a rather lavish lunch and spent the rest of the day getting to know each other, since Zare decided to lay off the training so as to let the siblings bond.

A few days later, it was time to say good bye, the siblings had to return to Whirlpool in order to report on their mission. Every day stayed in Konoha, brought the prospect of war ever closer and they needed to return to stop that.

"Do you really have to go?" Naruto said with tears in his eyes.

"I'm afraid so, the longer we stay here the more irrational Kaa-san gets. Out of all the Uzumaki, her temper is the worst and we really don't want her to declare war" Takashi said.

"Then take me with you" Naruto blurted out.

"WHAT!?" everyone else replied.

"Take me with you. I want to go back to Uzugakure with you" Naruto said with a heavy stream of tears.

"But Naruto what about your friends, what about your family, what about me?" Sasuke said in an almost heartbroken tone of voice.

"You idiot, when I said me I meant all four of us. You guys are my family, I just want us to go join the rest of it" Naruto said before wiping his face on his sleeve and putting on his signature smile causing everyone else to smile, the Uzumaki Grin was very contagious.

"But Naruto what about the village it's your home and what about your team. I've seen the way Sakura looks at the two of you, she would be absolutely devastated if the two of your up and left" Zare said.

"What are you talking about, Sakura-chan only likes Sasuke" Naruto said causing the raven head to shift uncomfortably.

"The boy's as oblivious as his father" Zare thought to himself as he mentally face palmed.

"As for the village, I know I have friends here and all and I've long since forgiven the villagers for what they did, but I can't quite forget the pain" Naruto said as he hung his head low.

Zare sighed and decided to find out how his youngest nephew truly felt and asked, "Naruto, do you hate this village?"

"NO!" Naruto almost yelled, shocked that he would even be asked such a question, "I love this village, I love the people. I would do anything to keep them safe; it's just that... ever since the incident a few nights ago, I've felt my resolve slipping. I've been asking myself whether it's truly worth it. I don't know why I feel this way and I hate myself for thinking like this so I thought that if I went to Whirlpool for a while, I'd figure out the answers to my questions"

Zare smiled at response from the blond Genin and said, "If that is how you truly feel then I promise you, in the near future, I will personally take you to Whirlpool and help you answer your questions"

Naruto sniffed again and gave his signature smile before everyone hugged each other good bye and the four siblings exited the house.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**Hmmm, is it me or are my chapters getting longer and longer each time. This chapter is already at 6,394 words and chapter 9 falls short of 7,300, seriously what is wrong with me. I've never been able to write this much before and frankly, I think it's bloody brilliant.**

**Anyway, by the time chapter 9 is up, the poll I've had going since I have no idea when will be closed. With a satisfactory 3:1 lead the decision is final.**

**The Kekkei Genkai mtutated due to Umbrea's influence.**

**In any case I am pleased, sure it would have been better if I had more than four votes, but with a 75% lead, I won't complain.**

**Small note, there might be a slight delay with the next two chapters as I'm travelling back home for Easter and I need to spent the next three days cleaning up my room, doing my laundry (which is a ridiculously large amount seeing as I'm too damn lazy to do it on a regular basis), pack my luggage and catch a flight... exciting isn't it -_-**

**Jutsu-Jutsu no Jutsu**

**Did I even add any Jutsus? *scrolls through chapter*... Ah yes.**

**Tsutenkyaku- Heaven Kick of Pain. A lovely technique if I do say so myself. In this chapter, however, Sasuke didn't actually use the true for of the technique, just the name. He required emphasis as he smashed Naruto's head into the ground.**

***Frowns* Is that it?... That can't be it. *Scrolls through chapter again* That is it!... Oh well.**

**Enjoy.**


	9. Escape from a Leaf, Embrace of a Spiral

Chapter 9

Less than a week later, Zare received a mental message, something during the night, from Chizuru saying they had reached home safely causing Zare to smile. He had given each of them a Shadow Crystal, but told them to keep it a secret from their mother and aunt since theirs had been deactivated when they left Konoha twelve years ago.

That morning Zare entered the kitchen to see Obito already sitting at the table with a distressed look on his face. Zare recognised this expression all too clearly as it was the same as when the Uchiha came to visit him two months prior to losing almost his entire family. Zare simply sat in front of the man he long since considered a brother and said one single word, "When?"

"Tonight" Obito replied, "The visions woke me up, they were hazy but they clearly showed today's date and the house being raided.

"Very well" Zare said as he stood up and made his way to the fridge to take out the ingredients for breakfast, "I'll notify Hiruzen and have Kakashi pick up the boys and drop them back. Since they already full filled this week's mission quota, they will have a training session"

"Zare, I'm scared, More so than the day of the massacre. I saw myself being cut down right in front of Sasuke while Naruto was torn to shreds. You ended up going ballistic and the last I saw was black light pouring out of the windows before the entire district went up in a massive fire ball" Obito said, now visibably shaking.

"Hey, hey. Don't beat yourself up over this. Remember, what you saw was a possible series of events. If it weren't for the, extremely rare, Yokan ability I extracted from your potential Mangekyo Sharingan, we would have never have gotten this kind of warning. Now that it is more refined, the warnings are clear cut and precise, but it is a pity the time frame it give us was reduced severely. Remember, we planned for this, the plan is perfect and besides I still have a few aces up my sleeve" Zare said before ending it with a smirk.

"You're wearing a vest" Obito pointed out.

"Oh my God that was so funny I forgot to laugh" Zare said with a gasp, "Now cheer up, the boys will be up soon and the last thing we need is for them to start worrying"

Zare smiled as Obito started laughing, his mood greatly lightened.

After the boys returned, Zare had them shower immediately and change into a new set of 'Training Wear' before escorting them to the training grounds. Both boys noticed their uncles were on unusually high alert, but thought nothing of it as Zare began reviewing them on the training techniques they used when the man first started training them.

It was almost eight in the evening and the boys were taking a short break before a large explosion was heard. The boys' eyes widened in horror when they realised where the sound came from and brought out of their stupor when Zare came racing towards them, Mukogan flaring to life, yelling, "BOYS! GET TO THE MIDDLE IMMEDIATELY!"

Naruto and Sasuke didn't hesitate before disappearing in a yellow and black blur, respectively, and reappearing next to Obito who was already there.

As soon as Zare reached them, he ran through a series of hand seals and calmly called out, "Kage Kekkai, Some no Mai: Kurai Yokubo"

Suddenly, from the entire perimeter of the training grounds, a myriad of Shadow Tendrils erupted from the ground and began 'slithering' over a seemingly invisible surface until they converged at a point several meters above the group forming a large, opaque, black dome that was surprisingly well illuminated inside.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked, worry ridden in his voice.

"Naruto" Zare said as ne knelled in front of the blond and placed his hands on either sides of his shoulders, "Remember what happened in the Council Chambers the day you moved in with me"

"Yeah" Naruto said, while wondering where the conversation was going.

"Well the person responsible for the web of lies was a man named Danzo, a former teammate of the Hokage's. He was in charge of an illegal, covert faction of ANBU called ROOT. After he was executed, the faction was ordered to disband, but apparently they would meet in secret and somehow found out who I am. As a result they placed an execution order on our heads and it seems they have come to carry it out" Zare explained.

"So what are we going to do?" Sasuke asked a tinge of suppressed fear in his voice.

"We are going to get out of Konoha and escape to the only place safe enough" Zare said as he performed a quick hand sign before placing his palm on the ground, causing four crates to pop up from the earth, "Find the crate with your initials on it and equip yourselves with everything in them. I'll tell you what to do afterwards"

Once they had worn on the protective vests and equipped themselves with the various scroll and weapons, they hefted the back packs onto themselves before turning around to see Obito and Zare wearing modified Jounin vests that had more storage compartments and had a weapon holster on either side of their waists. Obito had his sword strapped to his back while Zare had two swords on his back and a hunting knife strapped to his thigh as well as a long, black, hooded, sleeveless overcoat that went down to his ankles.

When the boys returned to their uncles' sides, the ground under them rose into a pedestal of sorts. Next Zare cut his thumb before running through a series of hand seals before placing the palm of the cut hand on the ground and calling, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu"

A string of sealing symbols spread out from under Zare's palm before two puffs of smoke appear which dissipated to reveal two wolves, one white one black, both with red tribal marking along their bodies.

"Makizaki-sama, it is good to see you again after so long. We got word from Takashi-sama that they had come in contact with you. We hope you are well" both wolves, clearly females, said.

"Kuroko, Shiroko, it is good to see you too, though I wish it were under better circumstances. The two of you are the fastest warriors of the Inugami Clan, next to your father, and I am in dire need of your assistance" Zare said.

"Of course Makizaki-sama you shouldn't even have to ask" white furred Shiroko replied.

"Indeed, after everything you have done for us, it would be a sin and an act of high treason to deny you of aid" black Kuroko said.

"Thank you my friends. I need you to create two hundred shadow clones each and spread them out evenly across the training field then I want you to act as mounts for Naruto and Sasuke here" Zare said while gesturing to the two boys, as the clones burst into existence all around the field.

"Naruto-sama, Sasuke-sama, it is an honour to finally meet you. Hikaru-sama and Kaoru-sama spoke much of you on their way back to Uzugakure, we would be honoured to have you ride upon us" Shiroko said as they both bowed respectfully causing the two boys to get extremely flustered before Naruto got on Kuroko's back and Sasuke on Shiroko.

Next Zare performed the signature seal of the Kage Bunshin as eight hundred clones sprung into existence then stood to full authority and called out, "ALL RIGHT, ALL OF YOU. THE DAY WE HAVE BEEN PLANNING FOR HAS ARRIVED. I WANT A QUARTER OF YOU TO TRANSFORM INTO OBITO, A QUARTER INTO NARUTO AND A QUARTER INTO SASUKE WHILE THE REMAINING QUARTER WILL STAY AS THEY ARE. YOU WILL GROUP UP LIKE WE HAVE AND PREPARE TO ESCAPE. YOU ARE TO USE ANY ROUTE NECESSARY TO TRAVERSE THE VILLAGE, BUT WE WILL CONVERGE AND EXIT THROUGH THE MAIN GATE. ONCE OUTSIDE THE VILLAGE WALLS, YOU ARE TO SCATTER IN ANY DIRECTION AND KEEP A MINMUM DISTANCE OF TWO HUNDRED METRES BETWEEN YOUR GROUP AND ANY OTHER. YOU ARE TO CONTINUE MOVING UNTIL YOU ARE SURE YOU ARE NOT BEING FOLLOWED AND THEN DISPELL. IF ANY MEMBER OF YOUR GROUP GETS TAKEN OUT, YOU ARE TO DISPELL IMMEDIATLY. ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS?"

There was a resounding, "NO SIR!" as the clones began their preparations for the most intricate escape plan in the history of Konohagakure.

Outside the barrier, several members of ANBU ROOT were waiting for the moment to strike. The barrier prevented them from seeing or hearing anything so they simply waited. Those who were stupid enough to make direct contact with the barrier, found themselves drained of all chakra as their bodies ceased to function and fell over dead.

Several minutes later the barrier dispersed and all of them were caught off guard as they were either cut down or trampled by hundreds of clones of their targets, as they spread out in all directions.

Sakura was happily humming a tune as she walked back from the grocery store, her mother had forgotten to buy some things and Sakura was sent to go get them. Hearing a loud dull roar, Sakura turned around in time to see hundreds of people rush past the side street she was in and continue onwards. Making her way closer to the stream of people, she suddenly caught sight of two faces that made her heart die. The original Naruto and Sasuke caught the eyes of their pink haired teammate and looked at her sadly before giving her a heart wrenching good bye wave and promptly disappeared within the rest of the mob. Sakura was about to call out to them until she was suddenly grabbed from behind and yanked to one side as several stray kunai rained down on the spot she was in. Sakura struggled with all her might until a familiar voice called out to her and saw Naruto's uncle holding her.

"Zare-san, what's going on here?" Sakura asked.

"Sakura-san, you must return home immediately, it is far too dangerous for you to be out right now" Zare's clone said.

"But what is going on here? Why are there so many people running around and why did Naruto and Sasuke look like they were saying good bye?" Sakura asked as tears threatened to fall from her emerald eyes.

"I'm sorry Sakura-san but you must get to safety. The boys would never forgive me if anything happened to you" the clone said before enveloping the pink haired kunoichi in a hug while whispering, "On behalf of Naruto and Sasuke" then promptly disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

As fate would have it, all the recent academy graduates bore witness to the fleeing mob and all of them received a painful good bye wave from the original Naruto and Sasuke. As they lost sight of them, all of them were left confused, some of them heartbroken and at some point or the other they all thought the same question, "Why?"

At the main gate, Kakashi was gathered with every available Konoha Jounin and Chunin. All of them except the three other Jounin Senseis and himself were wondering why they were gathered here. When Kakashi caught sight of the mob, he began addressing the group behind him, "Attention all Konoha Shinobi, the Hokage has authorised an act of diplomacy with our long forgotten allies in Uzugakure under the ancient Shinobi Trade Act. One Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Obito will be escorted by the Uzumaki Representative in Konoha, a Makizaki Sazare to Uzugakure no Sato in the Land of Whirlpools. This has been designated a SS-rank act of diplomacy and any attempt to hinder it is considered an act of high treason, punishable by death without trial. Unfortunately a rouge group of Konoha-Nin have taken it upon themselves to stop this mission and must be dealt with. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!?"

There was a loud and collective "HA" as the group stepped aside just in time for the mob to pass by them and immediately began dispersing into the night. As Kakashi watched the groups go by, he caught sight of one of them mouth a silent "Thank you" before they too disappeared into the night causing the masked Jounin to smile warmly.

Once the entire mob had passed through the gates, the gathered shinobi spread out across the entrance and took up attack positions, with the Jounin Senseis in the front and the members of ROOT heading straight towards them.

"So Kakashi, my cool eternal rival, what say you to a friendly contest as to who can take down the most rouges by the end of the night" Maito Gai said as he took up a Taijutsu stance.

"For once Gai, I wouldn't have it any other way" Kakashi said as he lifted his headband to reveal Obito's gift spinning wildly.

Two and a half days. The original Zare, Naruto, Sasuke, and Obito along with Shiroko and Kuroko had been running at top speed for two and a half days non-stop. Whenever any of them would get hungry they would eat special nutrition bars that were Zare's own creation and sleep was killed using caffeine pills. They would only stop for short bathroom breaks before continuing onwards. At the end of those two and a half days, they had entered Whirlpool territory and had the outpost village in their sights, but they weren't out of the woods yet, they still had to make it to the outpost village then cross the Maelstrom Sea into Uzugakure and its Sister Islands before letting themselves relax.

As they neared the village, Obito suddenly called out to Zare causing the man to look behind him, just in time to see at least twenty if not more masked ANBU chasing after them.

"SHIT!" Zare cursed then called out, "UMBREA!"

Suddenly Umbrea leapt out of Zare's chest in the form of a large black cheetah as Zare and Obito lifted their respective nephews onto her back. Next Zare leapt onto the shape shifter sitting in front of the boys while Obito sat behind.

"SHIROKO! KUROKO! RUN AHEAD AND WARN THE VILLAGE! HAVE THEM SHUT THE GATE AND SUMMON A FULL BATTALION. AS SOON AS WE CROSS THOSE WALLS, HAVE THEM LOCK DOWN THE COUNTRY I DON'T WANT A SINGLE ONE OF THEM FOLLOWING US!" Zare yelled out.

"HAI! Makizaki-sama" the twin Inugamis said as they shifted into spirit form and sped off towards the village.

"Umbrea! Get us off the ground. It's time to bring out the big guns" Zare said with a smirk.

"You got it" Umbrea said as she suddenly began to grow until she was the size of a tailed beast.

After that Zare used a kunai to place a cut across all ten of his fingers and ran through several hand seals before pressing both of them onto Umbrea's back and calling out, "Grand Summons: Five Beast Kings!"

Chakra seemed to erupt from Zare's palms followed by the familiar sound of a summoning Jutsu occurring five times in rapid succession. When the smoke cleared they were surrounded by five massive creatures each the size of a tailed beast. To the groups left, a massive white tiger galloped next to them. To the right was a black shelled tortoise, with its legs tucked back as it hovered across the ground. Flying above them from left to right was a grand flaming phoenix with vibrant shades of red and orange rolling off its feathers. Next was an Inugami in its spirit form with black and white fur and red tribal markings and finally an azure dragon with golden whiskers and silver-grey hair around its head flew gracefully on the right.

"Makizaki-sama, we heard news of your well being. To what do we owe the honour" the tiger said.

"I wish we could meet under better circumstances but I'm afraid is no time for pleasantries. Byakko!" Zare said causing the tiger to look at him, "Genbu!" the tortoise perked its head up, "Suzaku!" the phoenix lowered her gaze to the man, "Seiryu!" the dragon listened intently, "Byakuei!" the Inugami squinted its eyes in acknowledgment, "I hereby invoke the Fifth Procession! Get us to Uzugakure as fast as possible"

There was a loud resounding "HA! MAKIZAKI-SAMA!" as all five beasts including Umbrea picked up their paces and sped off at ungodly speeds towards their destination while Zare and his three companions held on tightly.

At the outpost village, the scene was a state of settling chaos, the civilians had been evacuated to the shelters while the gates had been sealed shut and a full ninja battalion stood in front of the gate weapons at the ready, each with either a tiger, a large tortoise, an Inugami, a phoenix or a dragon at their side.

Shiroko and Kuroko stood at either side of the battalion now at full size (Half the size of the Kyuubi) growling fiercely, the red tribal markings emitting a soft pulsating glow.

Suddenly one of the ninjas in the guard tower called out to the battalion commander and yelled out, "THEY'RE HERE!" instantaneously every member of the battalion, be it man or beast, went into full battle mode ready to take on anyone who dare threaten one of their own.

As Zare and his group reached the village, they all jumped gracefully into the air, their momentum carrying them right over the village and onto the surface of the Maelstrom Sea causing barely a splash and continued onwards as the numerous whirlpools calmed as they passed over them and turned violent in their wake.

"How come the whirlpools stop when we pass over them?" Sasuke yelled over the roar of the whirlpools.

"Simple, we are being escorted by the Five Guardian Beasts of Uzugakure. It is the combined power of every member of their clans that are keeping the Maelstrom Sea an impenetrable wall of death. Anyone who hasn't signed one of the Five Guardian contracts cannot pass through the Maelstrom Sea without an escort" Zare explained.

"So who are the Contract Scroll Keepers?" Obito said.

"That's a stupid question" Zare said with a chuckle, "I am"

"How's that possible I thought one could only be the scroll keeper of a single clan" Obito said.

Zare opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by Seiryu who said, "I can answer that question if you would allow me to"

"By all means" Zare said.

"Thank you" the leader of the Dragon Clan said before turning his attention to Obito, "The answer is simple. Makizaki-sama performed a great service to each one of our clans, placing us eternally in his debt. When we were threatened with extinction, he helped us relocate to one of several sister islands surrounding Uzugakure, as a show of thanks we each presented him with our Contract Scrolls and named him 'Keeper of the Five Guardians'"

Zare blushed at the mention of his title and scratched his cheek sub-consciously while saying, "It's not that big of a deal"

"Nonsense" Byakuei said while throwing a soft growl in for good measure, "If it weren't for you and Umbrea-hime, we would have ceased to exist"

"Oh do go on" Umbrea said, "I do love a man who knows how to compliment a lady"

"Hey Umbrea, I thought you hated dogs" Naruto said, ever the clueless idiot. Clearly he was elsewhere the day they decided to hand out common sense.

Byakuei growled at the blond in anger causing the red markings along his body to flash one before saying, "Watch it human. I am no mere dog; you would be wise to remember that"

"Hey" Zare said fiercely as he glared at the Inugami Clan leader and said, "I will not have you speak to my nephew like that" causing the black and white Canine Spirit to growl lightly in annoyance.

"Your nephew!? Then that must mean..." Suzaku said as she swooped in low to get a good look at the blond, "Oh my dear boy, you are the spitting image of your father, your mother will be absolutely thrilled to see you" before getting in closer and saying, "Care for a ride?"

Naruto look pleadingly at his uncle who simply nudged his head as if saying, "Go on then" causing the blond to squeal in delight and nearly lose his grip until he was grabbed by a Shadow Tendril that lifted him up and onto the back of Suzaku's neck. Naruto gripped on tightly as Suzaku flew back to her original position and if the cries of joy and excitement were not enough of a clue, the boy was having the time of his life.

"Hey! Why does Naruto get to have all the fun and I don't?" Sasuke said.

"No one's stopping you" Zare said.

"You could always ride on me" Byakko said.

"Cool, I always did like cats" Sasuke said as the large tiger pulled up close and a Shadow Tendril placed the raven head on its back.

"Well seeing as the boys get to have fun... Genbu-san if you don't mind" Obito said.

"Not at all" Genbu said then rose till his back was in line with Umbrea as Obito slid off and latched onto the shell with chakra, "Welcome aboard lad"

"Glad to be aboard" Obito replied.

Zare simply shook his head and sighed then said, "Well if you can't beat 'em" while getting on top of Umbrea's back and squatting while gathering chakra in his legs, "Join 'em!" while pushing of Umbrea and rocketing several metres into the air.

Zare then performed several graceful and acrobatic back flips before landing right behind Seiryu's head then said, "Umbrea! Take five"

"FINALLY!" she called out, "It's about damn time. All this sea air is murder on my follicles"

"You don't have any follicles" Zare called out with a chuckle.

Umbrea simply chuckled before disintegrating into black mist and disappearing.

After another five minutes of high speed travel, the endless cacophony of Whirlpools gave way to calm seas and a large island in front of them. It was unlike anything the three newcomers had ever seen. The island was circular, but what was most astounding was that the entire island seemed to be in the embrace of an unusually shaped mountain. It was as if someone had stretched it around the island leaving an opening for access. In the very centre of the formation was a massive village easily twice the size of Konoha if not bigger with a vast and thick forest surrounding it, filling up the gap between the village and the mountain side. At one side of the opening of the mountain enclosure, was a fairly large beach that continued around the outer edge of the mountain while at the other side was a grand and bustling harbour where several large ships were docked.

Once Zare was satisfied that his three comrades were left clueless enough he spoke, "Guys welcome to Horseshoe Island, also known as Uzugakure"

After a few moments of silence there was a loud and collective, "WHAT!?" which caused Zare to break out in hysterics.

A few seconds later, Zare sighed heavily while wiping a tear from his eye and said, "That reaction never gets old. It's truly priceless"

"IT'S HUGE" Naruto said.

"Of course it is. It's Uzugakure" Zare replied.

"But how is that possible?" Sasuke said, clearly his mind was over worked as it was making no sense.

"What do you mean 'how's it possible' It's Uzugakure" Zare said.

"But... but" was all that came out of Obito's mouth.

"How long will it take them to realise that is Uzugakure" Zare said to Seiryu.

"Hahaha, fear not Makizaki-sama all newcomers have the same reaction. Why only a few weeks ago, two men came with a letter for the Uzukage and the taller one almost fell out of the boat when he gazed upon the village" Seiryu said.

"That's hilarious" Zare said.

"Makizaki-sama" Byakko said.

"Hmm?" Zare replied.

"What are your orders once we enter the village?" the white tiger asked.

"Touchdown in the harbour square and shift into your compressed forms, it's been a while since I've returned and I intend to make my presence known. Oh and inform your clan members that 'No information about us or the Fifth Procession is to reach the Uzukage' until we enter the building. I want to make this a surprise" Zare replied with a mischievous yet serious smirk on his face.

"HA!" was the reply Zare received.

When they got close enough, the five beasts leapt into the air, flying right over the harbour while shrinking in size. When entered the vicinity of the village square, Zare, Naruto, Sasuke and Obito had to jump off their respective mounts since they needed to take up proper formation around them.

The village citizenry as well as the ninja populace looked on in confusion as the Five Beast Kings landed in front of them, with four strangers amongst them, Zare had pulled the hood of his coat over his head so as to hide his face only his playful grin visible.

The village ninjas were in a state of inward panic. There were only two people in the entire village who could invoke the Fifth Procession and one of them was in her office. The other had been missing for years and none of the four people looked like either of them. The ninjas' summoned companions, however, knew exactly what was going on and mentally reassured their charges that all was well. This caused the ninjas to visibably relax which in turn caused the civilians to relax. A calm Uzu-nin was a happy Uzu-nin and a happy Uzu-nin meant safety.

Once the tension died down, the group began walking towards the Uzukage's Tower at the other end of the village. People would make way instantly as they knew that whenever a Fifth Procession was involved, the people being escorted were VIPs of the highest order.

Zare smirked at the people's reactions while Naruto hung onto his uncle's arm followed closely by Sasuke and Obito. Byakko walked in front of the group while Genbu and Byakuei flanked their sides with Suzaku and Seiryu flying closely over head, bringing up the rear.

The Uzukage was currently facing the only adversary that she and those in similar positions of power had yet to forever banish to the inner depths of Hell. It made the Kyuubi look like a harmless kitten and Death look like a cute sneeze. She would curse it frequently for putting her through endless suffering on a daily basis and she would do the same to her late husband as the 'insolent, dickless, bastard', as she so kindly put it, decided to drop dead while sacrificing himself thus forever rendered free from a life of endless torture. What is the name of such a fearsome adversary? Why none other than the infamous Paperwork.

The Uzukage had just placed the two thousandth form, asking for yet another ridiculous request, in the rejection pile when a knock was heard and her assistant entered the room.

"Setsuna, you better not be bringing me more paperwork otherwise I swear to God I will hold a public assembly and burn every sheet of paper in front of them" the Uzukage said dangerously.

"No, no Uzukage-sama" Setsuna said with a nervous laugh, there were in fact fifty stack lying on her desk, but she really didn't want to deal with her boss's wrath, "Actually I'm here to tell you that you have visitors"

"Tell them I'm busy" the Uzukage said, returning her gaze to her Eternal Nemesis.

"Too busy to say 'hi' to your own brother-in-law" said a voice the Uzukage hadn't heard in almost one and a half decades.

The Uzukage jerked her head up just as Zare lifted his hood and revealed his features. The Uzukage stared at the man, dumbfounded, as he smiled at her warmly and said, "Hello Kushina"

Uzumaki Kushina, the Yondaime Uzukage, looked at the man with tears forming in her eyes and instantly got up from her seat, almost running towards him. Zare's face took on a look of horror as what was supposed to be a hug turned into a chakra infused fist that was imbedded in his face before he was sent flying.

Naruto, Sasuke and Obito sat nervously outside the Uzukage's office waiting for Zare to either call them in or take them to wherever they were supposed to go, when the office door exploded and Zare's figure came flying out and was embedded into the wall.

"You son-of-a-bitch!" Kushina nearly roared as she stepped over the debris and stood in front of her little sister's soon-to-be-dead husband, while several ANBU appeared before being waved off by their leader.

"It's nice to see you too, Kushina. How have you been this last decade?" Zare said through a strained voice.

"You've got some nerve for showing up unexpectedly after not so much as a word for almost thirteen years" the enraged red head said, "Do you have any idea what you have put Minatsu through, huh? DO YOU?"

"I'm sorry but-" Zare coughed out.

"I'm not the one you should be apologising to" Kushina said before a young boy's voice killed her anger like a Chidori to the head, a voice that said, "Kaa-chan?"

Kushina did a double take when she notices the young blond standing neat the waiting seats and said the only thing her mind could think of, "Naruto?"

Naruto's face lit up beyond all possible comprehension as he heard his mother call out his name. His breathing became laboured as he began taking weighted steps toward the red haired, grey eyed woman, tears streaming down his face. He called out to her again as his arms reached out to her, praying to every deity out there that this wasn't a dream.

Kushina dropped to her knees as her son staggered his way into her arms before she enveloped him in a hug only a mother could give and said, "Naruto, I can't believe you're actually here" causing the young blond to burst into tears as years and years of pent up anguish poured out of him.

Zare smiled at the touching scene before realising he was still quite thoroughly stuck with no clear way of getting out.

"Uh, a little help here" Zare said still trying to get his body to move.

"I'm busy" Kushina said as she sat down and Naruto curled up in her lap before doing something he hadn't done in over six years, he cried himself to sleep.

Several minutes later a voice from behind the group called out to them and said, "Kaa-san, we felt your chakra spike. Is everything alri-"

Chizuru stopped as she took in the scene in front of her. Zare was still stuck in the wall trying to squirm his way out while Obito and Sasuke looked on from the waiting seats and her mother was sitting on the floor, back toward her, as her entire figure rocked back and forth.

Chizuru stepped around her mother and was about to speak when Kushina interrupted her and softly said, "Shhhhhh! He's asleep"

Just then Takashi, Hikaru and Kaoru arrived and saw the scene in front of them.

"What's going on here?" Hikaru said.

"Why are Naru, Sasuke and Obito-san here?" Kaoru said.

"Hey! What am I a hole in the wall? ... Oh, wait" Zare said when he realised the situation he was still in before accepting Takashi's hand and was pulled out of the wall.

"Thanks" Zare said as he stood up and began dusting himself off.

"No problem" Takashi replied, "Now mind telling us what the four of you are doing here and why are there rumours flying around town about the Fifth Procession?"

"Heh, heh, you know me. I like to make my presence known" Zare said, "As for why we're here; I will only answer if you, Kushina, promise me to listen to the entire story then my recommended plans of action before you fly off the handle"

"It's ok, as long Naru's here, nothing will make me lose control" Kushina said as she hugged her son close.

"No you will promise me. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. If someone did this to my kid, I wouldn't hesitate to order the complete annihilation of Fire Country" Zare said.

"Was it that bad?" Chizuru said.

Zare sighed and nodded his head before retelling the past three days and the history behind it. After he was finished, Zare kept his eyes on his sister-in-law. Her body was that of a mother cradling her child, while her eyes bore the flames of a mother scorned.

"Kushina, you must promise me you will not do anything to Fire Country or Konohagakure" Zare said a serious tone in his voice.

"I will think about" Kushina said dangerously.

"No you will promise me now" Zare said, "I may not care much about the position of Daimyo, but that doesn't mean I won't pull rank and demand you stand down on this matter"

"Why should I listen to you? Why the hell should I listen to you after everything you've put Minatsu through?" Kushina said with enough venom that would make her late husband cringe in fear.

"Because if you so much as touch one blade of grass in Fire Country, Naruto will never forgive you. In spite of all the hell he's had to live through, Naruto has never been able to bring himself to hate that village. He loves the village and the people with every fibre of his being and I'll be damned if I let you do anything to make him resent you" Zare said.

At that moment Naruto groaned slightly as he began to stir causing Kushina to look upon her son and smile before looking back at Zare and saying, "Fine, I Uzumaki Kushina, Yondaime Uzukage of Uzugakure no Sato, do hereby swear not to take any action against Fire Country or the affiliated Shinobi Village of Konohagakure in regards to the treatment and attempted assassination of Uzumaki Naruto. Should there be any attempt on my part, to breach this contract, I will gladly step down from my position of Uzukage and pass it on to whoever is deemed worthy"

"Good" Zare said as he held out his palm to reveal a large black crystal, "Your pledge had been recorded. A copy will be sent to the village and clan archives while the original stays with me"

"I can't believe you don't trust me on this" Kushina said.

"It's not that I don't trust you. It's that I know the moment this information reached the public, there will be a demand for blood. I need you to calm the populace as I currently hold no tangible power other than what is written in the village archives and I'm afraid that won't be enough when it comes to the voice of the citizenry" Zare said as he smiled.

At that moment Naruto began to rouse from his slumber and slowly began to make sense of his surroundings.

"Okaa-san?" Naruto said slowly, almost hesitatingly.

Kushina looked down at the boy and smiled a loving, motherly smile.

"Am I dreaming?" Naruto said slightly more aware than before.

"No Naru, you're not. I'm just as real as you are. We're together. We're all together and I promise never to let you out of my sights ever again" Kushina said as she hugged her son close.

Naruto sniffed a few times before looking over his mother's shoulder and noticing his siblings with either grins or smiles on their faces.

Naruto smiled warmly before getting off his mother's lap and stretched then grinned. He was back to normal.

Just then footsteps were heard and everyone looked to see a woman with long red hair, slightly darker than Kushina's, and emerald green eyes jogging down the hallway.

"Sorry I'm late, Kushina, I was in the middle of surgery when I...felt...your" the woman trailed off as she noticed a man with short, spiky black hair and sapphire blue eyes staring at her, a myriad of emotions dancing through his eyes, mainly love, sadness, and regret.

"Minatsu" Zare said shakily, not daring to use her pet name.

"Zare-kun?" Minatsu said as she took a few steps forward.

"Mina-chan" Zare said before she promptly rushed into his arms.

The couple held each other for a few moments before Minatsu stepped back and slapped Zare hard across the face.

Everyone, including the few hidden ANBU cringed at the sight while Zare just looked at her, his hand hovering mere centimetres above his reddening cheek.

"That was for making me leave" Minatsu said fiercely before her expressions turned soft as she wiped a tear from her eye and said, "And this...This is for coming back" then grabbed her husband in a crushing hug while burying her face in his chest.

Zare smiled sadly and returned the hug before gently whispering, "I'm sorry Mina-chan. I'm so, so sorry. I hope you can forgive me for putting you through so much pain and suffering. Please, please forgive me" the last being said with a broken voice, sniffles and tears.

"Stupid~" Minatsu said as she stepped back from her husband and smiled, "There is nothing to forgive. You did what you did because that's just who you are. I understood and accepted that the moment I agreed to marry you" then proceeded to wipe away his tears.

"Mina-chan" Zare said as he planted a gentle kiss on her forehead, "You're too good for me"

"Don't I know it" Minatsu said with a playful grin and tone.

Zare smiled warmly and wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing her close to his body.

Suddenly the sound of footsteps was heard as the group turned again and saw a young girl around Naruto's and Sasuke's age with long black hair, however what captivated Zare the most wasn't the sense of familiarity he got from her, but her eyes. Both her eyes had irises that were both blue and green. This wasn't any Kekkei Genkai of any sort, no, this was a simple genetic trait that resulted in an individual possessing two different colours in the same eye.

When the girl spoke, it wasn't her voice that surprised Zare but what she said and the conversation that send his mind reeling.

"Okaa-san, I went to the hospital so you could take me shopping, but they said you suddenly rushed off to Ba-san's office. Is everything alright?" the girl said as she looked at her mother ever aware of the man who had an arm around her mother's waist with one of her hands on his chest.

"Aki-chan" Minatsu said as she stepped away from her husband, not out of embarrassment but more out of giving her daughter her full attention, "I'm so sorry, in the middle of surgery I felt your aunt's chakra spike and thought there might have been an emergency so I rushed off as soon as I was finished"

"Ok" the girl said as she walked slowly towards her mother, very suspicious of the man behind her, yet she couldn't shake the feeling she knew him from somewhere.

"Now then, before we leave for the shopping district, there's someone I want you to meet" Minatsu said as she held out her hand and smiled when her daughter took hold of it.

"Zare-kun, I want you to meet my daughter Uzumaki Akiba" Minatsu said causing Zare's eyes to widen tremendously, "Aki-chan I would like you to meet Makizaki Sazare, my husband and your father" Akiba's eyes, too, widened considerably as all the pieces slotted into place. She recognised the man from a picture they had from before she was born when her mother, aunt and cousins lived in Konoha. This man was indeed her father.

Zare quickly recovered from his shock and crouched down onto his haunches and looked at the girl noting the similarities between her, himself and Minatsu. Smiling warmly at her, Zare folded his arms and placed them on top of his knees and said, "Hello Aki-chan I uh... I guess umm" but never got to finish as the fist of a twelve year old girl connected with his nose making him lose his balance and fall flat on his rear end. Akiba turned around after she withdrew her fist and ran back down the hallway and out of sight.

"Uzumaki Akiba!" Minatsu called out, "You get back here right now and apologise young lady"

"NO!" was all that was heard along with diminishing footsteps.

Minatsu was about to call out to her again when Zare, with a hand over his nose, interrupted her and said, "Let her go, she needs time for it to settle in... Could someone please get me a tissue?"

"Why?" Naruto said while stifling a laugh earning a glare from his mother causing the blond to think, "Mothers are scary"

"I think she broke my nose" Zare said while removing his had to show that it was indeed broken with blood dripping from his nostrils.

Minatsu knelt beside Zare, her palms raised and glowing green as she said, "I'll have to have a word with her about this"

Zare raised his hand, denying her hands access while shaking his head and saying, "Let her off this time and don't heal me, let me suffer for a little while I deserve a lot worse"

Minatsu sighed and withdrew her hands while Zare flopped onto his back while placing an arm over his eyes and began to laugh with a shaky voice.

"*sniff* Oww, heh, heh, I have a daughter *sniff* oww" Zare said as he lay there taking laboured breaths with the odd sniffle and minor exclamation of pain while his arm concealed the tears of joy cascading down the sides of his head.

A few minutes later Zare had recovered and was sitting in a chair while Minatsu got to work on his nose and Kushina began speaking to the two ANBU she had just summoned and said, "I want the two of you to go and collect the Council Advisors, tell them to take over for today, I have personal matters to-"

*crack* "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Zare yelled out as his nose was readjusted.

"WILL YOU BE QUIET!" Kushina shouted at Zare, "For God and Heaven's sake you're two bloody thousand years old and you can't handle a little pain"

"But it hurt" Zare said with teary puppy dog eyes and a whimper.

"I don't give a damn" Kushina said still seething, "Now either suck it in and take it like a man or I'll toss you out the window!"

Zare hung his head low and raised his gaze to meet Minatsu's with a look of mock guilt making him look like a child being scolded causing Minatsu to chuckle and kiss him on the forehead as she finished healing his nose.

After the exchange was over Sasuke crept next to Naruto and said, "Dude, you're mom's scary"

"I know, isn't she awesome" Naruto said with a grin but stopped as both boys went wide eyed as they heard an audible *shwip* and looked to see a pen sticking out of the wall very close to their heads.

"I heard that" Kushina said while folding her arms.

Obito laughed as he placed a hand on both boys' shoulders and said, "Looks like think are gonna get very interesting from now on"

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**Yay! Another chapter finished! *round of applause* **

**I really can't think of what to write. Hmmm... Oh well. There's enough emotional babble in this chapter anyway, but please let me know how I portrayed the emotion in this chapter. I need Reviews so I can tweak my writing style to portray emotions better. I'm more of a Humour and Action kind of guy so emotions require a bit of effort, mainly trying to put myself in the character's shoes and trying to imagine how they would feel. I hope I did a good job, if not Let me know how I can improve.**

**Onward Ho!**

**Jutsu-Jutsu no Jutsu**

**Yokan- Premonition. Obito's Sharingan exclusive. Lets the user see future events that are an immediate threat to either their own life or the life of some one dear. They have no control over it and as described above, does not give vast amounts of time to plan.**

**Kage Kekkai, Some no Mai: Kurai Yokubo - Shadow Barrier, First Dance: Dark Lust. An original of mine. A more advanced version of the Shadow Wall. Creates an impenetrable Black dome over an area completely isolating the two sides. Reflects any force that is applied to it including offensive Jutsus. Anyone, other than those inside, who makes physical contact with the surface will be drained of all chakra killing them istantly. I was planning to use the Second form of the jutsu later on in the chapter but thought against it.**

**Grand Summons: Five Beast Kings - I kept this jutsu in English because I couldn't find a translation that I was satisfied with. If anyone can give me a suitable translation, I'll replace it and credit you.**

**Well I think that's about it. Oooo if anyone can tell me where I got Byakuei from I'll give you a cookie (Now to have someone explain to me what that actually means)**

**Note, I'll have to bump the age rating up to M from the next chapter onwards since there will be a few naughty references that will result in much laughter from both the characters as well as you, the reader (Hopefully). From what I can foresee, in either chapter 11 or 12 we will see the start of the Chunin exams (what you didn't think I was gonna skip that were you?) as well as a rather happy surprise for all when we have a small vacation afterwards in the land of tea. Umm, I hope I haven't missed out on anything and do expect a delay with the next two chapters as I will be travelling.**

**Note addition 28/3/10**

**Just wanted to tell you that I plan to do Character BIOs on my profile. Let me know who you want to know about first and I'll write it up and post it while on vacation. In fact I might just do the stupid thing and put up a poll so I can get a good idea. Now someone please kick me for having such blind faith in my readers. (Just kidding, no seriously I love you guys. It always makes me smile when I get an email saying so-and-so has marked either my story or myself in their favourites or alerts. Not to mention my eyes bulge every time I check out the story traffic)**

**Note Addition 16/4/10**

**Hey guys, there is gonna be a longer delay with the next chapters cause I'm stuck in Paris. VIVA LE FRANCE! I was on my way back to Manchester and we had to reroute because of the ash cloud. I could post, but not only are the chapters not finished, but the internet at the hotel they put us in is very slow so it would take ages to upload the chapters. I can't even read Looking For Group and Sister Claire because the comic images just won't load. UK airspace is expected to open at 1 am Saturday so for now I get to lie on my bed and watch CNN for updates. I'm trying to write right now and I'll try to get the chapters up as soon as possible when I get back to Manchester.**

**Enjoy.**


	10. A Father's Protection, A Husband's Love

Chapter 10

That evening the entire Uzumaki clan was together for the first time in over a decade. Akiba's presence was missed, but Zare made Minatsu understand their daughter's need for space. She had lived her entire life up till now without her father and now that he was suddenly in her life, she need time to come to terms with it.

There was much merry making after dinner was over and a prepared plate of food was left behind in case the missing Uzumaki got hungry sometime in the night. As the evening drew to a close, Obito and Sasuke got to leave saying they were going to find a hotel to stay in. That was until Zare and Naruto grabbed onto their respective best friends and dragged them out of the large kitchen/dining room with the rest of the family following them while Kushina said that there was no way in hell they were going to let them do that.

When they reached the door to the room Naruto was going to be staying in, Naruto slid the door open and tossed a rather surprised Sasuke in before turning to his mother and beckoning her close. As Kushina knelt in front of the boy, Naruto wrapped his arms around her in a hug and kissed her on the cheek and bid her 'Good Night' before disappearing into his room, closing the door roughly.

Kushina sniffed and wiped away a single tear before turning to Zare and said, "You have raised him well" causing Zare to smile, "He even helped me do the dished after we cleared up" the smile died immediately.

"I have never been able to get him to do the dishes, let alone any chores back in Konoha" Zare said as they began moving.

"Maybe he's making up for lost time. I think it would be a good idea to let him shadow you for a few days. Do some good and proper mother-son bonding" Obito said.

"I think that's a good idea" Kushina said with a smile.

"Good. Now that's sorted, will you please put me down, I am capable of walking you know" Obito said to Zare.

"NO" Zare said as he stopped in front of the door to the room next to Naruto's and Sasuke and tossed the man in, "If it weren't for amazing best friends like us willing to beat proper sense into you, you Uchihas would have sticks shoved so far up you asses, you'd be coughing up apples. Now get changed, shut up and go to sleep. From this day forward you are the official guests of the Uzumaki Clan; I'll come join you in a moment"

"Oh hell no!" Minatsu said as she stepped forward, "I see my husband for the first time in almost thirteen years and I'm not letting him slip out of my grasp that easily. You, mister, are coming with me" before grabbing onto the man's collar and dragging him to her, correction, their room while Zare waved at the rest of them with a humorous smile on his face.

Obito stuck his head out of the room and simply called out, "Don't wear him out too much. Out of the four of us, he's the most worn out"

Minatsu stopped and looked over her shoulder and said, "I'm not an animal you know. I do plan to give him time to rest" before a very naughty and very mischievous smirk crept across her face then continued dragging her husband who currently felt like a piece of meat.

Obito and Kushina laughed until a loud wolf whistle was heard from Naruto's and Sasuke's room.

"NARUTO" Kushina called out, much to her horror.

"Sorry" came a muffled reply.

When Zare woke up, he felt slightly disoriented and cursed the sun for spraying its rays across his eyes. As he sat up in bed he noticed the room was not his own and looked around. He noticed his clothes neatly folded on the dresser with his cloak and Shinobi Vest draped neatly over hangers and his scrolls stacked neatly in a tray with one of them opened and a woman with Venetian Red hair removing clothes from the scrolls and hanging them up in the closet.

"Morning, Mina-chan" Zare said groggily as he yawned and rubbed an eye.

"Good Afternoon" Minatsu said in an amused tone as she turned and gave Zare a loving smile.

"What time is it?" Zare said as he yawned and got out of bed.

"Friday" Minatsu said nonchalantly as she continued to hang up clothes.

"...What!?" Zare said as his brain registered what was said.

"You've been out for almost three days" Minatsu said as she unsealed another storage set.

"Wow" Zare said as he scratched his head, "Guess I must have been more tired than I let on" then made his way to his wife and wrapped his arms around her waist and held her from behind.

Minatsu smiled as she placed her hands over Zare's and fell back into the embrace. The couple held each other for several minutes, basking in each other's warmth until they were interrupted by a knock on the door causing them to separate and growl at the intrusion.

Come in!" Minatsu called out as Zare grabbed a towel and made his way into the bathroom.

"Minatsu! Hurry up; we need to go pick up our Yukata from the tailor. You know how fussy he gets when we're not on time and with the festival tomorrow, we need to get everything ready now" Kushina said as she entered the room.

"Festival?" Zare said as he popped his head out of the bathroom.

"Yes festival" Kushina said as she pointed to the calendar on the wall.

Zare studied the calendar intently for a few seconds before his eyes widened and said, "It's time for the Uzu-Matsuri already!?"

"Yes I mean it's only the anniversary celebration for the rebirth of Whirlpool Country after all" Kushina said sarcastically.

"Ha ha very funny" Zare said through half open eyes, "but what am I going to do I don't have anything to wear"

"I already ordered one for you and in your favourite colour scheme too" Minatsu said.

Zare hung his head low before looking up at his wife and said, "You are far too good for me"

"Yes, yes and yet I was the one who confessed first. Now stop faffing and get in that shower. You can go meet up with Obito, Naru-kun and Sasuke in the training grounds out back"

"Yes dear" Zare said as he playfully smirked and ducked back into the bathroom before a pair of trousers hit the door.

Half an hour later, Zare met up with Obito and the boys and began training them how to deflect thrown projectiles especially ones that were infused with elemental chakra.

"Now for wind chakra, the blade is sharpened by two opposing air currents flowing over each other. If you have either a wind affinity or fire affinity then deflection becomes much easier, but if you have the other affinities then no cigar. You might as well settle for strengthening your weapon with regular chakra and using pure skill and finesse to stop your weapon from breaking and getting skewered. Today I'll just explain the basics, on Monday I'll get you working on deflection using regular chakra. Once you got that down on an instinctual level we'll get to work on deflection on an elemental scale" Zare explained, "Now I want you to line up and take three shots at me with elemental charka and I'll show you how the deflection techniques differ from element to element"

As they began to throw elementally charged kunai and shuriken, Zare showed them how to deflect using the same element, the dominating element and regular chakra. It was during Naruto's turn that Sasuke noticed Akiba come into view and called out to her, "Aki-chan! Over here!"

Akiba smiled when she saw the boys but turned conflicted when she saw her father which didn't go unnoticed by Zare.

"Watch out!" Naruto yelled, causing Zare to look just in time to see a wind charged kunai flying right towards him. Zare had been so preoccupied by his daughter's expression, that he had dropped his guard and reacted sloppily when the weapon drew near. Deflecting it on pure reflex, Zare cringed when his own kunai shattered in his hand, cutting it up, while the charged one flew off at an awkward angle.

Then Zare heard three words from Obito that made his world come to a standstill, "AKI-CHAN! WATCH OUT!"

Akiba looked in horror at the speeding projectile and closed her eyes while raising her arms to block the possibly fatal impact. Darkness fell over her, but strangely there was no pain, no wetness from the blood, not even the feeling that something was sticking out of her. Akiba opened her eyes and lowered her arms to see a figure shadowing her. Looking up, her expression turned to one of horror as she saw none other than her own father looking down at her with a smile, with a trickle of blood seeping from the side of his mouth.

"You alright Aki-chan?" Zare said through rapid, laboured breaths.

Akiba lowered her gaze and took on a look of even more horror as she saw the tip of a kunai sticking out just under his left pectoral with blood rapidly staining the fabric of his shirt; the kunai had gone right through his back and was now sticking out his front. Zare clenched his eyes before turning his head to one side and coughed out a large glob of blood then fell to one knee. Akiba's expressed more and more horror at the next series of events Zare performed.

Placing both hands around the protrusion, Zare pressed against his body while gritting his teeth and stifling a cry of pain as the kunai poked further and further out of his ribs before grabbing hold of it and yanking the whole thing out. Zare let out a gasp before falling onto his side, rolling onto his back and began struggling for breath while blood bubbled out of his wound.

Obito, Sasuke and Naruto skidded next to Zare's side and began giving him a once over, none of them knew any medical Jutsus so they began to panic. Zare, on the other hand, simply tilted his head until he was looking right into Akiba's eyes and smiled then in a raspy voice said, "You- you ok Aki-chan?"

Akiba simply fell backwards onto her behind before she tilted her to the sky and screamed out, "OKAA-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

A few moments later Minatsu appeared in a swirl of venetian red mist and began asking what had happened. Akiba began explaining what had happened to her mother, but it came out as complete gibberish due to the state her mind was in and the heavy sobs escaping her lips.

Minatsu simply nodded before making her way to Zare's side and cutting his shirt open with a kunai.

"You understood that!?" Naruto asked as he watched his aunt get to work.

"Honey, I'm a medical professional, of course I understand Hysteria. We have courses on the subject" Minatsu said before shifting into medic-nin mode and said, "Ok, which one of you has a water affinity?"

Obito and Naruto raised their hands.

"Perfect. Charge your hand with water chakra and place them over his left lung, get a feel for the blood flooding it and move it out while I seal the wound and for God's sake don't send it into his other lung, it'll just make my job twice as hard" Minatsu said.

"How can you move blood?" Sasuke said, "It's BLOOD!"

"Precisely" Minatsu said with a smirk as she shifted slightly into sensei mode, "Blood is about 82% water, just think of it as a slightly more advanced version of the water training exercise, but this time you have to be even more precise. Too little charka and the blood won't move, too much and your hold slips causing the blood to either flow back or go somewhere you don't want it to, far too much and you risk separating the water from his blood which won't be a good thing even for him"

"You know, as lovely as it is seeing you pass on knowledge, could you please hurry up. I can feel the blood sloshing around and it is very uncomfortable" Zare said between sharp intakes of air.

All the while, Akiba looked on in a mixture of morbid fascination and pure distress. She gasped when Zare began coughing up large amounts of blood coating everything from his cheeks to just above his neck as Naruto and Obito finally got the hang of moving the blood. The procedure took time as after each coughing fit, Minatsu would have to break contact in order to prevent incorrect tissue connections while Obito and Naruto lost their hold on the blood. After each fit, Akiba's mind would flood with more and more worry and confusion because after each round of violent hacking and gush of blood, Zare would look at her with kind loving eyes and a warm smile.

After half an hour the wound was finally sealed and the blood removed as Obito and Naruto sat back panting heavily while Zare remained on his back taking deep breaths. After a few moments, Zare groaned as he sat up and hissed at the pain in his side before wiping the blood of his face with the back of his arm and spitting out any remaining blood in his mouth. Once he was comfortable, Zare suddenly felt an immense force hit him as he fell onto his back again and winced in pain before looking down to see a crying long haired raven head hugging him tightly. Zare pushed himself into a sitting position using one arm for balance as he placed his other hand on Akiba's head and caressed it soothingly.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry" Akiba said as she wept into her father's chest.

"Aki-chan, it's alright" Zare said soothingly, "A scratch like that will never be able to bring me down"

"But... but... you could have died" Akiba said in a whimper.

"Aki-chan. Your mother did tell you everything about me right?" Zare said.

Akiba simply nodded.

"Then you should know that I really am immortal. A punctured lung is nothing to get worked up over. Chop off my arm and I won't even blink, I see a stab to the heart as a mild irritation and even then I'm blowing it out of proportion. Sure it hurts, but it's nothing for me to get worked up over. So please stop crying, I'm fine really" Zare said as he lifted Akiba's chin and wiped the tears with the back of his fingers before placing his hand on the back of her head and pressing his forehead to hers then broke contact and kissed her forehead gently.

Akiba sniffed then buried her face into her father's chest and uttered a soft whimper before getting off of him while Obito helped him to his feet.

As they walked back to the Uzumaki Manor, Naruto and Sasuke began asking Akiba if she was alright while Minatsu gave Zare a dangerous glare and in a lowered voice said, "You suppressed you healing ability didn't you?"

"No, I swear to God I didn't" Zare replied quickly as he raised hands in a defensive position and shook his head violently, "I'm just as confused as you are"

"Then what happened?" Obito said as they continued walking.

"I did" came a voice as a black hole opened on Zare's chest and Umbrea popped her head out.

"Why?" Zare said in a troubled whisper.

"Because the child needed to understand how lucky she is to have a father, especially one as kind and gentle as you are" Umbrea said before disappearing.

Obito and Minatsu looked at Zare questioningly causing him to sigh and simply say, "Bad memories" leaving it at that.

The next morning saw the entire village bursting with life. The harbour plaza saw the most activity as vendors set up their stalls and various activities for the public. Several barges were brought in from the various outpost villages surrounding Whirlpool's borders and anchored in the bay while several fireworks were set up on the barges for the festival. The Uzumaki Manor was not any better off. Since breakfast, the entire household was in a state of panic; well the women were with the younger males being dragged along with it. In the kitchen sat Zare, Obito and Takashi calming drinking tea or coffee in Takashi's case while the sounds of, what could be assumed to be, wild animals rang through the halls.

"A lovely morning isn't it?" Zare said as he took a sip of his tea.

"Very" Obito said after he took a sip of his own.

"DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE MY-" Minatsu yelled out before Zare cut her off and said, "IN THE BATHROOM ABOVE THE SINK"

"OBI-OJI I CAN'T FIND MY-" Sasuke called out before Obito said, "SCROLL NUMBER FOUR SEALING SET FIVE"

"TA-" Hikaru started.

"YOU LEFT IT IN THE ONSEN" Takashi said before pausing for a moment and said, "BEDSIDE TABLE, SECOND DRAW, TOWARDS THE BACK"

"I DIDN'T EVEN SAY ANYTHING" Kaoru called out.

"HE DOESN'T NEED YOU TO" Zare called out before a very annoyed and stressed Minatsu stormed into the kitchen.

"Morning Mina-chan" Zare said sweetly.

"Don't you 'Morning Mina-chan' me" Minatsu said fiercely, "I can't believe the three of you are sitting here drinking tea while the rest of us are trying to get ready"

"Coffee" Takashi said as he raised his mug.

"I don't give a shit" Minatsu said before giving Zare a 'what do you have to say for yourself' glare.

"We have nine hours until the festival, I'm pretty sure the three of us will be ready by then" Zare said before returning to his tea.

"Exactly we only have nine hours. Can't you be a little more considerate" Minatsu said.

Zare then turned his attention to Obito and said, "It's amazing how the concept of time differs from men to women" before feeling a sharp pain on the side of his head as Minatsu dragged him out the room by his ear.

"I find it awe inspiring how my uncle is the most powerful man in this country yet gets dragged around by a woman such as my aunt" Takashi said.

"Well you know what they say 'Behind every great man is a great woman' that and your uncle suffers from a very serious illness called 'Love'" Obito said causing the older blond to burst out laughing, "Now just make sure that neither your mother nor your aunt hear that. Otherwise they'll tear both of us a new one"

Takashi chuckled once again as he washed his coffee mug then proceeded to go and calm the family madness.

By five in the evening everyone was ready and waiting to depart. Kushina was wearing a scarlet red Yukata with gold embroidery depicting a grand bird on her back with its long elegant tail feathers curling around the base of the festive wear. Minatsu wore an emerald green Yukata with purple embroidery creating an elegant floral pattern that worked very well with her hair and eyes. Obito wore a black Yukata with red, orange and yellow flame embroidered along the edge of the sleeves and the bottom. When asked why he chose such a design, he said, "My family were a bunch of arrogant pricks. Anything short of the colour 'Bland' was deemed 'unbefitting' an Uchiha. After all that has happened to us, I feel it's time I live my life how I want to"

"Fair enough" Chizuru said as she adjusted her black and white floral Yukata.

"I still don't understand why I have to wear 'Kill me' orange. I haven't worn that colour since the academy and why did I have to get a fox print? I really don't want people to make the connection" Naruto said as he fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Well for one, I think you look very cute" Kushina said, eliciting a blush from the blond, "and two, as ironic as it seems, the image of a fox suites you. Besides I told you we were going to introduce you to the village. It's been a pain trying to control the various rumours flying about without them mutating into something stupid"

"Ok" Naruto said in defeat.

"Don't worry about it, you are an Uzumaki. The village will celebrate the fact that you are alive" Takashi said as he ruffled his brother's hair.

Naruto smiled at his brother and noticed he had a simple dark brown Yukata with no embroidery what so ever.

"Hey, how come Taka-nii gets to go mono chrome?" Naruto said.

"Cause he's the black sheep of the family" Hikaru said resulting in a swift whack across his head from his older brother.

"Yeah well the two of you aren't any better" Akiba said, "Though I have to say good going with the whole opposite colour scheme thing. Hikaru with red and Kaoru wearing yellow, very smart"

"Naturally" Kaoru said, "And Aki-chan looks lovely as usual. Black with red roses, very nice"

"Awww, aren't you sweet" Akiba said, "Now get other women to actually believe your one liners then come and compliment me"

This caused Naruto and Sasuke to burst out in laughter.

"Well Sasuke-kun looks nice" Minatsu said.

"Thanks" Sasuke replied with a slight blush. He had done something similar to Takashi and wore a simple midnight blue but with two glowing cat's eyes on the back.

Everyone began to laugh until Minatsu's face expressed annoyance and said, "Now where is that damn husband of mine. All of us are ready to leave and he's still not here yet"

"I'm right here" Zare said as he entered the room wearing an obsidian black Yukata.

"It's about time" Kushina said, "What took you?"

"I was admiring the craftsmanship. The night time scene was a nice touch" he replied as he turned around to show light grey embroidery in the form of a large full moon on his right shoulder and the outline of grass lining the bottom of his clothes, "I've said it before and I'll say it again. Mina-chan you are far too good for me"

"Yes, yes. Now enough lolly gagging, we have to be there to perform the opening ceremony" Minatsu said as she began ushering everyone out the door.

As they traversed the streets towards the harbour plaza, Naruto noticed that every member of the public would either greet them bow or wave happily at his family and his family would reciprocate. It was unusual none the less to see respect given to him freely. People would ask who he was, but his family would simply say it was as surprise and to be patient.

When they reached the harbour plaza, Naruto and Sasuke were shocked to see so many people gathered in one place. When the group was spotted, the public parted allowing them through and watched intently as they ascended the steps onto the main stage.

"People of Uzugakure!" Kushina said as she stepped forward, "Today is an auspicious day. The day that marks the twentieth year of our great countries revival. Today is the day we celebrate all we have accomplished and remember those who gave themselves to keep us safe. It is also the day we mourn the loss of someone we never got to know. Never got to see smile and never got to hear laugh, but no more. From this day forth we will never mourn the loss of Uzumaki Naruto at the hands of the Kyuubi"

Naruto was shocked at what he heard but it didn't show since both Zare and himself were wearing masks.

"They mourned me?" Naruto thought, "The entire village mourned me?"

"But Uzukage-sama, how could you ask such a thing of us?" someone from the crowd shouted, "He was your son. You showed us a picture of him and we fell in love with him. Then you told us he died and we couldn't help but mourn and now you tell us to stop. We can't help but ask why?"

"The answer to that is simple" Zare stepped forward and removed his mask.

The crowd went into a frenzy of whispers as people began asking questions amongst themselves.

"Makizaki-sama, you have returned!" another member of the crowd called out.

"Indeed I have and I have come bearing the reason why you should stop mourning" Zare said as he gestured with his hand and Naruto stepped forward.

"The reason you should stop mourning is simple. Uzumaki Naruto is alive" Zare said as he removed Naruto's mask.

Naruto stood transfixed on the spot as he observed the crowd that was completely silent until Naruto gave a nervous smile and waved causing the entire crowd to roar out with cheers and applause, but all the celebration died instantly when Naruto did something no one expected, he cowered.

The crowd went silent as Naruto crouched into the foetal position, his hands covering his ears. Zare knelt next to him and heard him muttering incoherently. Zare realised instantly why his nephew was acting like this and embraced him in a comforting hug.

Kushina stepped forward and addressed her confused people, "People of Uzugakure, please calm yourselves. I feel some amount of explanation is in order. I should have realised this and for that I apologise. It appears the treatment my son has endured at the hands of the Konoha citizenry has had a far greater impact than I could have ever thought possible"

"Are you saying that Konoha did this to Naruto-sama?" another member of the public asked.

No one answered.

"Then I say we declare war and show them what happens when they hurt one of our own" a woman called out causing the entire crowd to go into an uproar in agreement.

"ENOUGH!" Kushina yelled causing the entire crowd to go silent almost instantly, "I HAVE ALREADY PROMISED NOT TO TAKE ANY ACTION ON THIS MATTER AND THAT IS FINAL"

"Uzukage-sama, how could you!? They hurt your son. Give us one good reason why we shouldn't incinerate the entire country" several people called out.

"Because if you so much as take one step into Konoha with the intent to harm, Naruto will never forgive you" Zare said as he stood up, "As much as he has suffered at the hands of the Leaf Villagers, he still loves them with all his heart. He has never wished harm upon them and would probably do anything to keep them safe. His heart holds more compassion and mercy than anyone could possibly dream of, such is Uzumaki Naruto"

"Very well" a villager said, "If that is how Naruto-sama feels then we shall yield" and with that every member of the public bowed deeply and in unison said, "PLEASE FORGIVE US NARUTO-SAMA, WE MEANT NO DISRESPECT!"

Naruto, Sasuke and Obito freaked out at the display while Zare burst out in hearty laughter.

"They really do love you Naruto, they always have and always will" Chizuru said as she placed a hand on her little brother's shoulder.

"Thanks, it's just so new to me, being respected let alone not looked upon with hatred" Naruto said solemnly, "and I'm sorry for reacting like that, it's just that every time I hear loud voices it usually means they want to hurt me. I guess I'm not completely over it"

"Don't worry Naru" Hikaru said as he wrapped an arm around Naruto.

"Yeah, we'll help you get through it" Kaoru said as he wrapped his arm from the other side.

"Or die trying" they both said in unison.

"That was kinda creepy" Sasuke said.

"You get used to it" Takashi said, "So Naruto, what do you want to do first"

The festival was utterly spectacular and the Uzumaki Siblings plus Akiba and Sasuke had a blast. Everywhere there was something to do or something new to eat. Naruto was especially thrilled when there was a ramen stand and rushed inside much to his siblings', cousin's and best friend's amusement.

"Oh, Uzumaki-samas it's good to see all of you again and a special welcome to you, Naruto-sama. Since it is your first visit, everything's on the house" the proprietor, a young man with short brown hair and brown eyes said as he smiled warmly.

"Thank you Tenchi-san, but I should warn you, our little brother has a bigger appetite for ramen than we do" Takashi said.

"I'm willing to take on a challenge" Tenchi said with a look of anticipation and eagerness.

"Don't say we didn't warn you" Chizuru said as she and the group sat down.

"So what'll it be" Tenchi said as he leaned on the counter.

"You choose first, Naru" Hikaru said.

"Ok" Naruto said and looked over the menu, "Hey what's this Uzu-Ramen? I've never hear of that before"

Tenchi's eyes lit up at the question and said, "That is a specialty of Uzugakure. If you are anything like your siblings, you will love this"

"Ok let's give it a try" Naruto said with anticipation.

"Haiyo~" Tenchi said as he began to prepare the food.

A few minutes later Tenchi placed a bowl of noodles in broth in front of Naruto while everyone else watched. Naruto placed his hands around the bowl but quickly withdrew them and said, "Hey, what the hell it's cold!"

"Precisely" Tenchi said with an amused smirk.

"Just try it. It's not an Uzugakure Specialty for nothing you know" Akiba said.

Naruto scowled slightly but yielded. Taking hold of his chopsticks, the blond took a less than decent helping and noodles and placed them in his mouth, savouring the taste and swallowing. Naruto went wide eyed as the chopsticks fell from his hands and his siblings and cousin smirked.

"H-how?" Naruto said causing Tenchi to beam like it was going out of style.

"Heh, heh family secret. The Nakamura Family are masters of the Culinary Arts and being the eldest son I specialised in ramen like my father and grandfather did" Tenchi said.

"Seconds" Naruto said as he thrust an empty bowl at Tenchi.

"Haiyo~" Tenchi said with a smirk as he began preparing another bowl for his newest loyal customer.

When the group left the ramen stand, they decided to hunt down their respective parents/uncles/aunts.

"Where are they?" Chizuru said as she scanned the immense crowd.

"Why don't you just search them out? We do have a Kekkei Genkai that lets us search out family members" Takashi said.

"I tried but there are too many chakra signatures around us, it's causing a kind of interference. I can't get a proper fix on Minatsu-Ba-chan let alone Kaa-san" Chizuru said.

"What we have a Kekkei Genkai!?" Naruto almost yelled.

"Yeah, I thought Zare-ji-san told you about this" Chizuru said.

"No he didn't" Naruto replied.

"Yes he did" Sasuke said.

"When?" Naruto asked.

"The day after your brothers and sister left, weren't you paying attention?" Sasuke asked.

"Umm not really, when Zare-oji-san said Kekkei Genkai, I assumed he was gonna review what he told us before and kinda tuned it out" Naruto said sheepishly.

"Dobe" Sasuke said.

"HEY!" Naruto replied.

"No, Naru he's right" Hikaru said.

"Yeah, you really are a dobe for tuning something like that out" Kaoru said.

Naruto hung his head in dismay.

"Ok enough name calling, we don't need our little brother having self esteem issues" Chizuru said, "But really Naruto, you should pay attention when you are told something, you might learn something useful and in our line of work, knowledge is invaluable"

"Oh there she goes off into Sensei-mode, come on Naru lets go fine our mother" Kaoru said as he took hold of Naruto's wrist and began dragging him away.

"WAIT!" Naruto yelled, "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what our Kekkei Genkai is"

"Well it's called the Uzumaki Dairokkan and it essentially gives us an advanced Chakra sense along with very large chakra coils and reserves. It lets us lock on anyone we deem a target as long as we have encountered them before hand, but it really shines when it involves blood relations. We can automatically lock onto members of our own family and search them out by simply thinking about them" Chizuru said.

"That's... kinda lame" Naruto said.

"Not when you really think about it. We make excellent trackers. All we need is one encounter with a target and their chakra signature is locked into memory. As long as we don't lag too far behind, it is impossible for them to lose us" Takashi said, "And let us not forget our ability to search out our family members. We may be well known for our greater than normal tracking range but when it comes to finding members of our own family, we are unparalleled"

"Then how come you didn't find me earlier?" Naruto said.

"That's because, for one, your Kekkei Genkai hasn't activated yet and two we thought you were dead so we really didn't like to dwell on that fact" Hikaru said.

"Oh" Naruto said.

"But don't worry, now that you're with us, we'll never lose sight of you again" Kaoru said.

"Thanks" Naruto said, "Now let's go find Kaa-chan"

When they finally found them, it was quite late and it was time for the fireworks ceremony.

"Where were you guys?" Chizuru asked.

"What, we're not allowed to have our own fun?" Zare asked.

"Enough! All that matters, is that we're together again and the fireworks are going to start" Minatsu said just as the first flares went up and exploded into loud bursts of colour.

"It's started!" Akiba called out.

As the fireworks continued everyone looked on in awe, Naruto and Sasuke were captivated. Konoha rarely had celebrations that required fireworks so this was especially exciting to them.

Suddenly Naruto heard a muffled 'eep' and looked to see his cousin looking toward her right with her eyes widened in horror, a furious blush gracing her cheeks and a slack jaw.

Naruto followed her gaze and he too was forced to yelp in surprise as his eyes took in the sight in front of him, a sight that involved his uncle and aunt locked in a kiss so deep, so passionate that the only thing that could best it would be if they were having hot, nasty, animalistic sex right there on the spot.

Naruto absent mindedly tugged on Sasuke's sleeve causing the raven head to look at his friend in annoyance before looking in the same direction Naruto was facing and froze. Obito and Kushina noticed the lack of attention the three youngsters were paying to the fireworks and looked toward the target of their undivided attention before their eyes took in the sight before them.

"Hey, stop staring!" Obito said as he whacked Naruto and Sasuke over the heads.

"But, But!" Naruto stuttered.

"Oh come off it! The two of them haven't seen each other in almost one and a half decades, I'm surprised she didn't ravage him while he was unconscious the last few days" Kushina said eliciting an 'eep' from her niece, "Now stop gawking and start cooing at the sky. I want to see eyes filled with awe and wonder"

The three youngsters tore their eyes away from the couple and continued to gaze upon the colourful night sky.

The next morning Naruto entered the dining to see his entire family minus two.

"Where are Zare-oji-san and Mina-Ba-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Still sleeping, I think" Sasuke said, "Their room has several privacy Jutsus in place, so I don't know. Maybe they're talking about something important"

"We know what they are doing" Hikaru and Kaoru said in unison with mischievous grins on their faces.

Kushina simple cleared her throat before taking a sip of her tea and giving the twins a 'Don't you dare' look laced with palpable amounts of killing intent. The twins began sweating profusely before finishing off their breakfast, saying their goodbyes and rushing out the front door to get started on their latest mission.

"So what are they doing?" Naruto asked.

"That is none of your concern" Kushina said.

"But" Sasuke started before Kushina cut him off and in a clam yet deadly voice said, "Boys, I said it was none of your concern"

Both boys squealed in fear and continued eating.

It was another two days before the couple emerged from their room. Obito and Kushina entered the dining room to find Minatsu cooking breakfast while Zare sat at the table, head resting on folded arms.

"Oh!" Obito said as he entered the room, "Glad to see the beast with two backs has been slain. How was it?"

"Zip it" Zare said, "I'm not the kind to kiss and tell and you know it"

"... So how was it?" Kushina said as both she and Obito turned to face Minatsu.

Minatsu smirked wickedly and said two words, "Thirty-two"

Zare stared at her horrified as Obito and Kushina tried to unravel that very cryptic statement.

"What the hell does thirty-two mean?" Kushina said.

Suddenly Obito's eyes widened and blushed furiously causing Kushina to look at him and say, "What is it?"

Obito, unable to say it loudly, leaned in to Kushina and whispered in her ear causing her to take on a look of horror and loudly said, "YOU MEAN THE TWO OF YOU DID IT THIRTY-TWO TIMES!"

"Oh say it louder why don't you, Kushina, I don't think the people in Iwa heard you" Zare said clearly miffed.

"Why are you so pissed? I'm surprised your wife can still stand after the way you probably wore her out" Obito said.

"Actually I'm fine" Minatsu said, "We stopped because he was tired" while gesturing towards Zare.

Obito and Kushina stared at Zare incredulously so simply grumbled and buried his head into his arms.

"What the hell did you do to him!?" Obito said to Minatsu.

Minatsu smirked mischievously and returned to making breakfast.

"Obito" Zare said deadly causing the Uchiha to flinch slightly and slowly face his best friend, "Remind me never to leave my wife for over a decade ever again" before disappearing in a puff of black smoke. Obito and Kushina burst into laughter just as the remaining family members entered the room.

Two weeks later Zare was with Kushina in her office reading over a letter they had received earlier that day.

"Hmmm, I think it is a good idea" Zare said.

"You sure?" Kushina asked.

"Yes I am. This letter is clearly telling us that things have settled down and I think it is the perfect way to end this madness once and for all and if things work out the way we hope then we can show those ignorant pricks just how valuable an asset they lost" Zare said.

"Ok then, I'll have a response drafted and send it off right away confirming our attendance" Kushina said.

"Hold it! At least let us ask them if they want to do it or not" Zare said before he closed his eyes for a few seconds and said, "They're on their way"

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door and three raven heads and a blond entered.

"Obito! What are you doing here?" Zare asked, "I only wanted the kids to come"

"I was on my way here anyway. I was going to ask you guys something and I decided to tag along" Obito said.

"You called?" Naruto said as he closed the door behind him.

"Yes I did" Zare said as his face took on a grin, "I want the three of you to tell me what your views are on the prospect of becoming Chunin"

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**Hey everyone in back at long last. Sorry for the late posting, was stuck in Paris this past week and the internet there was ridiculously slow. Which doesn't matter since i only finished the chapters yesterday.**

**Anyway, chapter 10 and 11 are up so please Read and Review. I only have twelve reviews so far and would love some more (if you would be so kind). **

**Umm I really cant think of anything else so I guess that's it from me.**

**Jutsu-Jutsu no Jutsu**

**Uzumaki Dairokkan - Uzumaki Sixth Sense, I don't need to explain this now do I? It's already been done in the chapter.**

**Enjoy**


	11. To be an Uzumaki

Chapter 11

"Are you serious!?" Akiba said.

"Of course" Zare said.

"How!?" Naruto asked.

"We just got a letter from Konoha, inviting us to participate in their Chunin Exams. It was supposed to happen in a month's time but due to what happened they postponed the date of the exams by an additional month, so we have two months to prepare" Zare said.

"So does that mean that things have settled down?" Obito asked.

"It seems so and if things really are as calm as the Hokage says they are in his letter, then I don't see any reason as to why you two can't return to being Konoha citizens, after the exams are over of course" Kushina.

"Actually that's one of the reasons why I was coming to talk to you two" Obito said, "Sasuke and I talked it over and we decided that we don't want to return to Konoha"

The look of shock on everyone except the two Uchihas' faces was very evident.

"Umm, care to elaborate further" Zare said.

"The truth is that after being in this village for almost three weeks, we like this village a lot more than Konoha. Over here we are treated like normal people, but with a certain level of respect considering we are guests of the Uzumaki Clan, instead of blind adoration bordering on out right worship like in Konoha. We want to make a fresh start here in Uzugakure and after all that has happened to the Uchihas, the clan is essentially dead so we might as well revoke our name since we technically no longer have the Kekkei Genkai that was associated with the Uchihas and as you said, since we came here under the Shinobi Trade Act, we are allowed to become fully fledged Uzu-nin" Obito said.

"Is this how you really feel?" Kushina asked.

"It is" Sasuke said while Obito nodded.

"Excellent" Zare said as he clapped his hands together, "What say you on the names Uzumaki Obito and Uzumaki Sasuke?"

"...WHAT!?" everyone except Zare and Kushina said though Zare did start laughing.

"To be blatantly honest I was hoping the two of you would be susceptible to the idea and I put it forth in front of Minatsu and Kushina and they felt it would be a good idea to have the two of you brought into the family" Zare said.

"Are you serious!?" Naruto said.

"Very" Zare said.

"How would it work?" Obito said.

"Well normally if someone was to be brought into the family, there would be a marriage" Kushina said.

"But seeing as Minatsu is already married, Kushina has no intention of remarrying, Chizuru does not wish to marry, yet anyway, and Akiba is far too young to marry, we will have you bonded into the clan as siblings of which ever generation you fit into" Zare said.

"How?" Sasuke asked.

"It will be in a similar manner as to how I modified your Sharingan a year and a half ago. We will perform a sealing ritual that will give you the Uzumaki Dairokkan as well as some minor traits that will allow you to open seals that are bound by Uzumaki blood" Zare explained.

"But won't that overwrite the Sharingan? If that is the case than I'd prefer to take on a different name" Obito said.

"Actually that's what makes the Uzumaki Dairokkan unique. It is capable of co-existing with another Kekkei Genkai and acting more as a genetic trait rather than a Bloodline Limit, but it still has traits that classify it as a Bloodline Limit, so in essence you could call it a pseudo-Kekkei Genkai" Zare said.

"Hmm, that's very unusual and you can guarantee the Sharingan won't be lost?" Obito asked.

"Yes, seeing as how the technique was developed by the fourth Hokage and I am the only one who knows how to perform it. In fact the technique used to modify your Sharingan and the technique used to kill the Kyuubi, is an off shoot of the Bonding Ritual" Zare said.

"What do you think Sasuke?" Obito asked.

"Well I already see Naruto as a brother, I just hope I don't get infected by his stupid" Sasuke said.

"Hey, I'm not stupid" Naruto said.

"You keep telling yourself that sweetie" Akiba chimed in.

Naruto hung his head in dismay.

"Well there you have it" Obito said.

"Excellent, meet us in the Manor Common Room at midnight. We need to give enough time for dinner to digest otherwise your stomachs will scream three Bloody Marys and ten swear words" Zare said with a chuckle, "Now on to the matter regarding the Chunin exams"

When that was said Akiba grabbed both her cousin and cousin-to-be by their collars and growled out, "The two of you better not back down otherwise I swear I'll cut your hearts out with a spoon"

"We wouldn't dream of it" Naruto stammered out nervously while Sasuke shook his head violently.

"Oh don't worry" Zare said, "With me as your Jounin-sensei, failure is not an option"

Later that night, the entire Uzumaki family plus the two Uzumaki-to-be and Zare were gathered in the common room.

"Now that everyone is here let's begin the ritual. Kushina if you would please lead the way" Zare said before Kushina lead them to a door that led them into an underground room covered on all sides with sealing symbols.

"Ok so here's how it is going to go. Obito you will be bonded as Minatsu's and Kushina's younger brother while Sasuke will be bonded as Naruto's twin" Zare explained.

"OH GOD! Don't tell me I'm going to look like him" Sasuke said horrified.

"Hey!" Naruto said.

"Quiet please" Zare said, "To answer your question, any changes to your physical appearance will be very subtle such as minor changes in hair colour or eye colour, nothing too drastic. The main focus is to give you the Clan's Kekkei Genkai and a genetic marker that identifies you as an Uzumaki. It just so happens that the marker causes minor changes in appearance"

"So what's the procedure?" Obito asked.

"Well we'll have you strip down to your undergarments and I will provide blindfolds since there will be women involved in the ritual" Zare explained.

"Huh" Obito, Sasuke and Naruto said in unison.

"*sigh* Just giving you the Kekkei Genkai is useless. I've already told you about the Uzumaki Dairokkan and how it works. If it is to function like it should, we need to create artificial bonds between you and your future siblings and in order to link with other family members you will piggy back on the closest blood relation until your own bonds form, understand" Zare said eliciting a nod from the three, "Excellent, Obito, Minatsu and Kushina, please stay here, there are changing rooms to your right, where you can place your clothes and put on a blind fold. When you are done please knock on the door and I'll guide you to your places. The rest of you please wait up stairs until were are done and then I'll call you down"

While everyone went to their respective locations, Zare began making final preparations for the procedure.

After a few minutes three sets of knocks were heard and Zare smirked evilly.

"MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" Zare laughed in his mind, "Coming~" he said as he thought, "This will be epic"

First he led Kushina into the centre of the room and had Minatsu sit next to her. Finally he got Obito and sat him down such that the three of them formed a triangle.

"Obito, as lovely as the thought of my wife and sister-in-law in their under garments is, do keep some semblance of control over yourself, they are going to become your future sisters" Zare said with an evil smirk.

"WHAT!?" Kushina and Minatsu said in unison.

"He's lying! I swear to God he's lying!" Obito said defensively as Zare burst into hysterics.

"Zare-kun" Minatsu said sweetly causing Zare to freeze and look at his wife slowly, "Stop messing around or I'll kill you"

Zare paled at the amount of killing intent in his wife's sweet voice was laced with and decided to get back on track, "Okay... let's get back to business. Now I want you to join hands but due to your current lack of visibility, I'll guide your hands. After that, I want Kushina and Minatsu to link with each other and search out for another family member within this room. I'll use your bond as a basis to forge the new ones and piggy back on your 'open end connection' to link you with Obito. Now I want you, Obito, to keep your mind as blank and as open as possible. When the bonds are about to be formed you might feel a presence of sorts trying to push into the back of your mind, don't fight it"

"Ok, but how do you know what will happen if this is the first time you are performing the ritual?" Obito asked.

"I don't. I'm assuming that the formation of the link is similar to how I feel when someone contacts me with the Shadow Crystals" Zare said as he sat at one end of the room that acted as the control hub for the ritual, "Let us begin"

Zare performed a long string of hand seals before placing his hands on the necessary sealing sets and began the ritual. The entire room lit up as chakra entered the seals and activated them. Purple sparks began dancing around Obito's skin as the seals altered his DNA and slowly turned him into an Uzumaki. An hour later the DNA modification was complete and Zare began the next phase of the procedure. After activating another sealing set, Zare activated his Mukogan and stared intently at the trio. After a few moments, a thin beam of yellow light could be seen linking Minatsu and Kushina together and open ended strands coming off their bodies. Zare smirked slightly and fully began the final phase. Linking with Minatsu's and Kushina's minds through their Shadow Crystals, Zare 'Piggy Backed' onto one of the strands coming off each of the two women and began guiding them to Obito. The procedure took a long time to complete but after forty-five minutes, Zare could clearly see a thin yellow beam of light linking all three adults together. Smiling happily, Zare went through the cool down process of the procedure and after five minutes the ritual was over.

"Mina-chan, Kushina I would tell you to say hello to your new brother but he's currently unconscious" Zare said with a happy chuckle.

"Is everything alright?" Minatsu said as Zare lead her to the changing room.

"Absolutely perfect, his body his reconfiguring itself according to what his new DNA says it should be so I put him into an artificial coma until the changes are set. You should be able to sense him when he wakes up" Zare said.

"That's good to know" Kushina said as Zare helped her up.

Fifteen minutes later Minatsu and Kushina helped a now clothed yet unconscious Obito back to his room while Zare called the Uzumaki Siblings plus Sasuke into the room.

This time Zare had Naruto sit opposite Sasuke and had them hold hands while Hikaru and Kaoru sat opposite each other and held hands next he had Chizuru sit behind Kaoru and Naruto with her hands on their shoulders while Takashi sat behind Sasuke and Hikaru with his hands on their shoulders.

This time the procedure took a lot longer since he had to modify Sasuke's DNA and activate the Uzumaki Dairokkan in Naruto if he was to link Naruto and Sasuke as twins. After the modification was complete, Zare used Hikaru's and Kaoru's bond as a basis for Naruto's and Sasuke bond then had to link both Naruto and Sasuke to each of the remaining siblings since Naruto never created bonds with his siblings since he had never known them.

The entire procedure took a good three hours and an unconscious Naruto and Sasuke were carried out by their eldest siblings.

"Well that was fun" Zare said as he exited the room.

"Speak for yourself, my head's killing me" Hikaru said.

"Sorry" Zare said as he helped Hikaru and Kaoru back to their room.

It was two days before Zare felt the two newly inducted Uzumaki were fit to wake, when their new family saw them, the changes in their appearance was visible but not in a negative sense. Sasuke's eyes had taken on a slight blue tinge that was only noticeable of one really looked while Obito now had streaks of Rosso Corsa running through his hair, a very nice improvement as commented on by all. As soon as there were finished eating a rather hefty meal, Zare started them on training.

Half the day was spent rebuilding Obito's and Sasuke's chakra control since they had much larger chakra coils to get used to. After lunch Zare would train Naruto, Sasuke and Akiba for the upcoming Chunin Exams while Dream Sessions were spent training the Uzumaki Dairokkan and this involved the entire family.

A month later Zare, Naruto and Sasuke decided to visit Kushina in her office. It was a Sunday so there wouldn't be any training except for the Dream Sessions.

When they entered the office, Naruto and Sasuke saw a person with pale soft features and long brown hair who they recognised immediately.

"Haku-chan!/Haku!" Naruto and Sasuke said respectively.

"Naruto-kun! Sasuke-san!" Haku said as he saw the two boys.

"What are you doing here, Haku-chan!?" Naruto said excitedly.

"You do remember I'm a boy right?" Haku said, clearly displeased at the normally feminine honorific.

"Yeah, but saying Haku-kun is too much of a mouthful. Hey what about Ha-kun" Naruto said.

"You make me sound like a pet dog. Just call me Haku" Haku replied.

"Fine" Naruto said in dismay.

"Anyway, what are you doing here?" Sasuke said.

"Haku has been acting as a messenger for Momochi Zabuza and his group of Uzu-nin posing as mercenaries, giving me updates on his progress to end the Bloodline Purges in Kirigakure" Kushina said.

"Indeed" Haku said, "And as for the report, I'm glad to say that the Bloodline Purges are finally over. Zabuza-sama, in command of your forces, was successful in putting a stop to the Genocide and helped put a new Mizukage in the seat, a woman by the name of Terumi Mei. Zabuza-sama sent me to report while the rest of them try to rebuild Kirigakure and get them back on the road to recovery"

"That is wonderful news Haku-chan" Kushina said causing the Ice user to look at her through half closed eyes while she took out a scroll and began writing in it before rolling it up, stamping it with her personal seal and handing it to Haku, "I want you to deliver this personally to the Mizukage. I'll have a Genin team escort you back so they can return with a response and details as to when you all can return"

"Thank you Uzukage-sama" Haku said as he bowed and began leaving the room.

"Tell Zabuza we said hi" Naruto said.

"I will" Haku said with a smile and left the room.

A few minutes later Kushina let out a sigh and said, "Now then, since that little matter is taken care of. We need to plan how best to tell those two that they are now official Jounin of Uzugakure"

"That's awesome Kaa-chan" Naruto said.

"Naruto, Sasuke" Kushina said, "My two darling sons, I am your mother and the Uzukage, of course I'm awesome"

A week later, the Genin team returned with a positive response to the offer of an alliance Kushina had sent with Haku and three days after that the whole group returned.

As soon as Zabuza and Haku got off the boat into Uzugakure, they were immediately escorted to Kushina's office where both she, Minatsu, Zare, Obito, Naruto and Sasuke were waiting.

"Hey kid" Zabuza said to Naruto, "If I knew who your mother was, I wouldn't have tried to kill you. I've never been so scared of another woman let alone another human in my life"

"I know isn't she awesome" Naruto said with a smirk.

"Enough of that" Kushina said, "The reason I have called you two here is in regards to your mission to Kiri. We have recognised your success in Kiri as an S-Class mission and will be paid accordingly. Also we recognise this mission as an alternate to the aptitude test for those who wish to join our Shinobi ranks but have not passed through our Academy"

The two former Kiri-nin looked at her with confusion.

"Momochi Zabuza, Haku" Kushina said with authority causing the two men to snap to attention, "Please step forward and receive your Forehead Protectors, from this day forth you are official Jounins and citizens of Uzugakure, congratulations and welcome to your new home"

The two newly inducted Uzu-nins looked at their new leader with shocked expressions until Naruto waved a hand in front of their faces snapping them out of their trances.

"C-could you p-please repeat that" Haku stammered out.

"No" Kushina said.

"Are you saying that you have registered us as members of your shinobi forces?" Zabuza asked.

"Didn't I just say that or was I speaking Dutch" Kushina said with a sarcastic smirk.

The two men sweat dropped.

"Yes" Kushina said, "Now hurry up and meet with my assistant, she'll help you fill out the necessary forms to make everything official so that you can get the keys to your new home and gain access to your new bank accounts. We took the liberty of stocking your new home with basics such as food and basic ninja equipment. We'll send someone around later to give you a tour of the village so you can buy any additional supplies such as clothes and such. Take the next two days off and report to me first thing Thursday morning so I can assign you missions as official Uzu-nin"

"Actually I have the perfect mission for Zabuza here" Zare said.

"Who are you?" Zabuza asked causing Kushina and Minatsu to raise an eyebrow, Obito to look mildly horrified, Sasuke and Naruto to stifle a hefty round of laughter and Zare to grin manically.

"My name is Makizaki Sazare and that is all the information I am giving you. Use the next two days to find out the rest, but don't worry my identity within this country is no secret so you will get information willingly just be sure to wear your Forehead Protectors, it will make thing a lot more easier. Now I want you to meet me first thing Thursday morning at the Mission Distribution Office and we'll take things from there. I'm sure you'll love your new assignment" Zare said with a smirk that made Zabuza sweat nervously.

After Haku and Zabuza left, Kushina faced Zare and said, "What do you have planned for him?"

"You'll see" Zare said with a mischievous grin.

"Please tell me it there won't be any bloodshed" Kushina said as she began messaging her temples.

"Only if he doesn't learn to control himself, and what I have planned will hopefully break that habit" Zare said.

"Fine but if this fails, I'm having you play Uzukage for a week" Kushina said causing Zare to pale considerably and silently pray to every deity in existence to ensure his plan bears fruit.

Thursday morning on the dot, Zabuza and Haku were standing in front of the Uzukage awaiting for their missions. The two of them proudly wore their new Uzugakure Forehead Protectors and the standard issue Uzugakure Jounin vest, black with orange trimming.

A few minutes later Zare entered the room and gave Zabuza a smile causing the much bulkier man to sweat slightly now that he knew who Zare really was.

"Ah, Zabuza excellent, please come with me. I want to have a little chat before I give you your mission details" Zare said.

Zabuza gulped slightly and followed Zare out.

"Will Zabuza-sama be alright?" Haku asked once the door had closed.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, I hope. Even I don't know what Zare has planned, but he did say it will help Zabuza break some of his 'Naughtier Habits' as Zare put it and help him understand what it means to be an Uzu-nin" Kushina said.

Haku looked a little weary until Kushina began speaking with authority and gave Haku the details of his first mission as a Jounin of Uzugakure.

"Well after everything you have told me, one could easily assume that you already were an Uzu-nin, it's just your nasty habit of always arriving to the conclusion that death is the only solution that makes you falls short. Death is only a first hand option when it involves protecting our own" Zare said as they walked around the village.

"So what do you have planned for me?" Zabuza said causing Zare to grin evilly.

"You'll see" Zare said.

Zabuza was about to speak but was cut off when a child like voice yelled out, "MAKIZAKI-SAMA!!"

Zabuza turned to see three children, a boy and two girls, running towards them.

"Ryuji-kun, Suzume-chan, Haruka-chan. You are just in time" Zare said.

"Really?" blue haired Ryuji said.

"I would like you to meet your new Jounin sensei, Momochi Zabuza" Zare said with a happy smile.

"WHAT!?" all three children yelled out in glee while Zabuza yelled out in surprise and horror before grabbing onto Zare's collar and dragging him from the children.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Zabuza said in a loud whisper, "I'm supposed to be a homicidal maniac and you want me to teach kids! Are you insane!?"

"In lieu of the fact that the integrity of my sanity comes into question fairly often, I feel that I have made an appropriate decision" Zare said as he removed Zabuza's hand from his shirt, "Like I said you would make an ideal Uzu-nin, you just need to stop using death as a means to an end"

"And you think, me being a teacher will help?" Zabuza asked.

"Exactly" Zare said as he snapped his fingers and a shadow tendril rose from his shadow and placed four folders in his hand, "The three blue folders contain everything regarding your new students, including chakra levels and family background. The yellow folder is an appendix detailing how Uzugakure defines a shinobi's level of skill, including what the minimum requirements WE have placed before a ninja is ready for a promotion. I want you to spend today and tomorrow getting to know your new students and help them get ready for the Chunin exams in a month's time. They have been Genins for a year now so you shouldn't have any problems, just see where they are lacking and help bring them up to our standards"

"What happened to their old sensei?" Zabuza asked.

"He died two weeks ago during an escort mission to Bear Country. He was stabbed through the heart from behind when a group of bandits ambushed the caravan" Zare explained.

"I thought he was supposed to be a Jounin" Zabuza said.

"And one of our best. The bandits had some strange device that made them invisible to all senses, one of the escorts was able to retrieve one of them and our R&D faction is trying to see how it works and counteract it if possible" Zare said.

"I see" Zabuza said, "But I still don't understand why you want me to teach them. I don't exactly have any methods that would result in ninjas that the village would approve of and I can't exactly use my own experiences either"

"Actually you can" Zare said, "I've read your file and done some investigation of my own, so I think the advice I'm going to give you will help start you in the right direction"

Zabuza listened intently.

"If the learning experiences you have received were through methods you disapproved of then teach these children how you would have wanted to have been taught. Nurture them the way you felt you should have been nurtured" Zare said causing Zabuza's eyes to widen with realisation, "I'm glad to see you understand. Now since this is your first mission you will receive a payment equivalent to three A-Rank missions at the end of the Chunin Exams. If your students are promoted to Chunin then you will receive a bonus equal to an S-Rank mission on top of your payment"

Zabuza looked like he was going to faint when he calculated the amount of money that added up to.

"Now for my deal with you" Zare said causing Zabuza to look at him questioningly, "You were told, day before yesterday, that although you were given the rank of Jounin, both you and Haku do not completely fulfil all the requirements to be a Jounin of Uzugakure, am I right?"

"Yeah, they told us that we lacked a third element and didn't have a contract with one of the Five Guardian Clans" Zabuza said.

"Exactly and it is your skills in other areas that make up for what you lack" Zare said, "Like I was saying, I have a deal for you. If you do a good enough job of teaching these three children, I will personally train both you and Haku to our Jounin standard including building up your chakra reserves"

"You would do that!?" Zabuza said in shock.

"We take the nurturing of our Genins very seriously and if I didn't make this offer to you now, our Uzukage would have made me do it later" Zare said.

"Wow I don't know what to say" Zabuza said.

"Just say you'll do it" Zare said causing Zabuza to nod.

"Excellent" Zare said then walked back to the trio of children with Zabuza in tow.

"Is everything alright, Makizaki-sama?" Green haired Haruka said.

"Will we still get a sensei?" Purple haired Suzume asked shyly.

"Of course, of course" Zare said with a chuckle, "I was just telling Zabuza-san what will be required of him as a Jounin-sensei and some goals I have personally placed on him"

"So does that mean?" Ryuji asked as his face lit up.

"Yes he agreed" Zare said with a smile causing the children to cheer in jubilation which in turn caused Zabuza to smile at the sight.

"Now I'll leave the four of you to get better acquainted and let Zabuza tell you what I expect of him" Zare said as he turned but stopped mid stride, looked over his shoulder and said, "Try not to kill 'em"

"I'm not making any promises" Zabuza said.

"I was talking to the children" Zare said causing Zabuza's eyes to widen.

Two weeks later, Zare had just finished his training session with Sasuke and Obito, when Naruto and Akiba arrived and Zare told them he had a surprise for them.

"Guys I think it's time you sign one of the Guardian Contracts" Zare said with a proud smile.

"WHAT!?" The quartet yelled as Zare cut all ten of his fingers, ran through a series of hand seals before placing both palms on the ground and yelling out, "Grand Summons: Five Beast Kings!"

There were five loud bangs as the Five Guardian Kings appeared behind Zare in their compressed forms.

"You summoned, Makizaki-sama?" Seiryu asked.

"Yes I did. I feel it is time for Obito, Naruto, Sasuke and Akiba to sign one of the contracts. Now before you choose I need to tell you how it works. Each of the Five Guardian Clans represent one of the five elements of chakra manipulation, as such you may choose one of the Clans to sign with such that they represent one of your top three Elemental Affinities" Zare said and waited for all three of them to nod before continuing, "Now the elemental affinities are as follows, The Dragons represent Wind, the Tigers represent Lightning, Phoenixes are of Fire, Tortoises represent Water and the Inugamis Represent Earth. The procedure is simple, you go to one of the Clan Heads and ask to join, before you are able to sign the contract, they will take you back to their home island where they will test you and decide whether they find you worthy. Should you pass you will be allowed to sign the contract and one of the Clan members will be assigned to you as your Personal Summons. Now under normal circumstances I would stop here, but since you are Uzumaki there is a little bit of extra information that I have to provide. According to the agreement when the five clans took up their roles as guardians of Whirlpool, other than myself, only an Uzumaki can summon one of the clan heads to their side in addition to their Personal Summons. Everyone else can only call forth their Personal Summons when they perform the Kuchiyose no Jutsu. As such, should it be necessary you will be able to summon the head of which ever clan you sign with" Zare explained, "Now that that's done I'll let you make your choice"

"Actually the Tiger Clan wishes to lay claim to one of the candidates" Byakko said as he stepped forward.

"Oh" Zare said with surprise, "Which candidate you wish to lay claim to?"

"Uzumaki Obito" Byakko said.

"And... who is the one who wishes to lay claim?" Zare asked.

"I am" Byakko said causing Zare to look at the tiger with utter shock while Obito had no clue as to what was going on, "I see great potential in him and wish to test him personally and I for one do hope he passes"

"Umm, anyone care to fill me in?" Obito asked.

"I-I-I can't believe this!" Zare stuttered out, "This is incredible!"

Obito retained his look of confusion.

"Obito a clan has actually chosen you to sign their contract and on top of that Byakko himself wishes to be your personal summons. Do you understand the significance of all this?" Zare said with excitement.

"No I don't" Obito said with a slight amount of annoyance.

"Oh sorry" Zare said, "The thing is, it's very rare for a clan to choose a person to sign their contract. A person has to have some kind of quality that is beyond human comprehension in order for that to happen, combined with the fact that Byakko himself wishes to be your summons. Obito if you pass his test, this event will become the single greatest thing to happen in Uzugakure since its resurrection"

Now it was Obito's turn to be shocked.

"Is it really that big of a deal?" Obito asked.

"On a scale that would considered ludicrous. I have known the Guardian Clans for almost two thousand years and never has there been a person a clan head was willing to submit to" Zare said.

"Until now" Obito said.

"Indeed" Zare replied, "So what say you on this matter? You can refuse now and choose from the remaining two, but if you agree and fail you will not be allowed to sign with any of the other clans"

"I see" Obito said, "C-can I have some time to think about this?"

"Sure" Zare said then turned to the remaining three, "Well now that that matter is somewhat settled, have you guys decided who you want to sign with?"

"DRAGON!" Naruto yelled out excitedly.

"Phoenix" Akiba said with a slight twinkle in her eyes.

"Inugami" Sasuke said with a hint of seriousness.

"Wonderful" Zare said as the Clan Heads made their way to their potential charges, "I'll see you in about two days" before the three children disappeared along with the Clan Heads.

"Better luck next time, Genbu" Zare said jokingly.

"Tis no skin off my shell, Makizaki-sama" Genbu said with a hearty chuckle.

"Oh before you go, could you please organise a small contingent to go check out the seabed in sector five, there have been reports that the whirlpools are experiencing minor fluctuations, nothing major mind you, but I don't want to take any chances" Zare said.

"At once, Makizaki-sama, I shall have a report delivered to you within the hour" Genbu said as he bowed his head and disappeared.

Zare turned his attention to Obito who was sitting on the ground, deep in thought, "So, my dear brother-in-law, what is your decision?"

"I guess, I'll do it" Obito said as he put his hand out which Zare grabbed and pulled him to his feet.

"Well off you go" Zare said as he stepped aside and Byakko stepped forward and disappeared along with Obito.

The next morning Akiba returned with an ultramarine phoenix in its compressed form (About the size of a scarlet macaw) perched on her shoulder.

"Everyone I'd like you to meet Entei" Akiba said as she gestured to the phoenix while Zare raised an eyebrow.

"It is an honour to serve your daughter, Makizaki-sama. My mother was thrilled at our compatibility" Entei said as he bowed.

"Yes, Suzaku always did have a soft spot for me, even before she became clan head" Zare said with a smirk, "Well congratulations Aki-chan, you've done your mother and I proud"

"Thank you Tou-san" Akiba said happily then looked around and said, "Where's Naruto and Sasuke?"

"They're not here yet, in fact you are the first to arrive, Aki-chan" Takashi said.

"Ha! I told you so" Kaoru yelled triumphantly, "You owe me 500 ryo, Hikaru"

Hikaru grumbled in annoyance as he took out the necessary amount of money and handed it over to his twin.

"I can't believe you two were betting on who would arrive first, that's horrible" Kushina said causing the two boys to hang their heads and leave the room in dismay.

A few seconds later Minatsu looked at her older sister, grinned evilly and said, "Cough it up" while gesturing with her index and middle fingers.

Kushina glared at Minatsu and took out a thousand ryo and handed it over.

The next day, Naruto returned with two dragons, an emerald green dragon with red whiskers, curled up on top of his head, asleep and an amethyst purple dragon with golden whiskers wrapped around his neck, with its upper and lower body draped across either shoulder.

"Hey guys, this is Soren" Naruto said as he pointed to the dragon on his head, "and Tenran" pointing to the dragon on his shoulders.

"They're twins!" Kushina said, "I'm so proud of you!"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Naruto said.

"Because the only time a person is allocated two summons is when the summons are twins, it's something to do with mutual compatibility, that's how it's always been with the Guardian Clans. It's the same reason as to why Chizuru can summon both Shiroko and Kuroko" Zare said.

"Cool" Naruto said then noticed Akiba with her summons, "Hey Aki-chan! When did you get back?"

"Yesterday morning" she said with a smirk.

"Ok and Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"Not here yet" Hikaru said as he took a bite out of an apple.

"Normally I would prank him when he got back, but I am exhausted" Naruto said as he sauntered to his room.

"That explains his lack of energy, but we can fix that can't we Hikaru" Kaoru said with an evil grin.

"That we can, Kaoru" Hikaru said returning the grin.

A few hours later Sasuke returned with a platinum grey wolf that had ash grey and charcoal streaks in its fur along with the traditional red tribal markings on all Inugami.

"And who do we have here?" Chizuru asked.

"My name is Arashi, Chizuru-sama" the wolf said as it looked up and did the lupine equivalent of a smile.

"Isn't your older brother, Shiroko's mate?" Chizuru asked.

"That he is, Chizuru-sama" Arashi replied.

Sasuke was about to speak, but was cut off when there was a loud crash and splash followed by a yell of surprise causing everyone to run off towards the source of the commotion.

When everyone reached their destination they saw a drenched Naruto with a bucket on his head as well as Hikaru and Kaoru rolling on the floor, clutching their sides in unrestrained hysterics.

"We tried to warn you, Naruto-sama" Tenran said as she flicked her tail and a gust of wind lifted the bucket off of Naruto's head revealing a very displeased expression on his face.

"You really should be more aware of your surroundings" Soren said as he summoned a warm breeze to dry Naruto off.

"Naruto, I'm disappointed in you" Zare said.

"What!? Why!?" Naruto said.

"A prankster of your calibre should have easily been able to avoid something as simple as a bucket of water. I thought I taught you better" Zare said.

"I'm sorry" Naruto said.

"Now go get cleaned up, dinner is in half an hour" Kushina said, as Naruto walked off towards the bathroom, while Zare and Kushina sent him a mental message telling him, they would help him with the revenge plan.

The next day everyone waited for Obito to return, two days passed then three days, at that point Zare was getting slightly worried, but concealed it by training Naruto, Sasuke and Akiba for the Chunin Exams and getting them used to fighting alongside their summons.

A total of a week and a half passed before Obito returned with Byakko at his side.

"Oh God, Obito are you alright?" Zare said with worry.

"I'm fine, sorry I took so long" Obito said.

"What kept you?" Kushina asked.

"Byakko had me learn a Kenjutsu and Taijutsu style that automatically drew out lightning chakra before I could sign the contract" Obito said.

"Wait, what?" Zare said, "Byakko had you learn Tora Taijutsu and Kenjutsu before you signed the contract?"

"Well not entirely, but I got the basics down pretty good" Obito said matter of factly, "Why what's the matter"

"I'm guessing Byakko forgot to mention that the only way a person can learnt the combative styles of the Guardian Clans it to actually have signed the contract before hand, since the styles can only be used in collaboration with one's personal summons" Zare said as he looked at Byakko disapprovingly.

"You said it yourself" Byakko stated, "The only time a Clan chooses a candidate is when they see a quality that is beyond human comprehension. I saw his ability to use the Tora Budo without the need for a tiger summons"

"Wonderful" Kushina said, "Now that everyone is back safe and sound, we can start packing"

"Packing? Why?" Naruto asked.

"Well the Chunin exams are in a few days, and it would most certainly be rude for the Uzukage to be late" Kushina said.

"Huh?" Naruto said.

"Naru-kun" Minatsu said, "We received a letter inviting the Uzukage, plus the Uzumaki Clan to witness the entire Chunin exam as a gesture of good faith in an attempt to better relations between Uzugakure and Konohagakure"

"Oh~" Naruto said.

"Well, now that that's settled, let's start packing" Kushina said.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**Yay, chapter 11 is done *does victory dance*. Now I know, I normally give you an option, but please, please review this chapter, I really need to know how you guys felt about the events that took place here. I had this idea in my head since Chapter 3 so I really want to know if it is welcomed.**

**Anyway, chapter twelve marks the start of the Chunin Exams (FINALLY! GOD DAMN THAT TOOK AGES). There will be lots of fun to be had as we turn people into walking fountains of sweet, sweet blood (Oh Goodie!). After that there will be a war with Konoha fighting Sand and Sound, Lots of Action to happen there, plus the true Strength of Uzugakure will be revealed and finally we shall have a lovely vacation in Tea Country with a nice happy surprise for all.**

**Please R&R.**

**Jutsu-Jutsu no Jutsu**

**Tora Budo - Tiger Martial Arts. One of the Martial art Styles of the Guardian Clans. Involves a style of combat that combines Taijutsu and/or Kenjutsu with Ninjutsu with assistance from your Personal Summons. This style along with the other four are only taught in Uzugakure.**

**Enjoy**


	12. Return to the Leaf: A Test of Devotion

Chapter 12

In Konoha, Kotetsu and Izumo were once again performing guard duty, but at least this time there was some form of excitement in the form of candidates attending the Chunin exams and yet they were still bored.

Suddenly Kotetsu noticed a shadow in the distance heading towards the village and took out a pair of binoculars to get a better look. What he saw made him hyperventilate before dropping the binoculars and sprinting of into the village.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Izumo picked up the binoculars and took a look, what he saw was a large group of people, surrounded by tigers, wolves, large tortoises, large birds of various colours with what appeared like flames rolling off them and dragons of various colours, walking towards them. One of the people was wearing Kage robes and hat while the flag of Uzugakure flew overhead.

Izumo instantly dropped the binoculars and uttered two words, "Oh Shit!"

When the group reached the gates Zare went up and signed in for them.

"Let see... we have one Uzukage, nine Genin candidates, their Jounin senseis, the Uzukage's sister who is our head medic-nin, the Uzukage's sons and daughter, two of which happen to be candidates, the Uzukage's brother, and a few extra Jounin for protection" Zare scribbled into the register, "Did I miss anything?" he called out to the group.

"You forgot the summons" Kushina said.

"Oh right, thanks" Zare said then turned his attention to a rather dumbstruck Izumo, "Do I need to include the summons, they are going to stay with us for the duration of the Chunin Exams"

"Uh, n-no I-I don't think so" Izumo said.

"Wonderful" Zare said with a smile, "You have notified the Hokage that we have arrived right?"

"Uh, yes my partner just went to inform him" Izumo said.

Just then several ANBU appeared and confronted two particular members of the group.

"Momochi Zabuza, Haku, you are to surrender immediately and come with us" an ANBU operative said.

"You will not touch our sensei or Haku-sempai!" Ryuji said as both he and his teammates armed themselves with their weapons and took up a defensive position around their sensei while the rest of the group went on guard, including the summons.

"Is there a problem here?" Zare said.

"Yes" the operative said, "Momochi Zabuza and the individual known as Haku are missing-nin from Kiri and there are strict orders to capture them on sight"

"Well gentlemen" Zare started before a look of surprise donned his face and he turned to another of the operatives and said, "Oh, I'm sorry you're a woman, do accept my apologies, my dear. Anyway like I was saying, if you had the latest edition of the Bingo Book you would have known that both Momochi Zabuza and Haku-chan have been acquitted of all charges placed on them, by the current Mizukage and were kindly transferred to Uzugakure to join our shinobi forces as a gesture of good faith in lieu of our alliance with Kirigakure. Now I would like to ask you to kindly put down your weapons and either leave or escort us to the Hokage's Tower, otherwise we will see this as an act of aggression and take appropriate action against you"

Zare's voice was so devoid of any kind of emotion, it seemed almost hollow to the ANBUs present, immediately they put away their weapons and the leader of the group said, "Please accept our apologies, the Hokage's Tower is this way.

"Thank you" Kushina said the group were lead to the tower.

Once they reached the tower, the entire group was lead up the stairs onto the roof to meet the Hokage, since there was no office large enough to fit them. When they reached the roof, they were met by the Hokage, a man with long, spiky white hair with a tattoo on his face making him look like he was crying tears of blood and a customised forehead protector with the kanji for 'oil' on it and a woman with blonde hair a green gem in the middle of her forehead and a rather hefty bust.

"A very warm welcome to Konohagakure, Uzukage-sama" the Hokage said.

"Thank you Hokage-sama both for welcoming us and inviting both myself and my family to observe the Exams in their entirety" Kushina said.

"Think nothing of it" Hiruzen said.

Kushina smiled and then said, "I'd like you to meet my children. First there is my eldest, Chizuru" Chizuru stepped forward, "My eldest son Takashi" Takashi stepped forward and gave a polite bow, "The twins, Hikaru and Kaoru" the twins poked their heads from behind Takashi and waved, "As well as my two youngest, "Naruto and Sasuke"

All three elders raised an eyebrow at the last name as the two boys in question stepped forward and Naruto said, "Yo Jiji, what's up?"

"Hello Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, it's been a long time how have you been?" Hiruzen said with an infinite amount of confusion written on his face.

"We have been well Hokage-sama" Sasuke said as he did a slight bow.

The Hokage was about to speak when Kushina cut him off and said, "I'd also like you to meet my sister, Minatsu, her husband, Sazare, their daughter, Akiba and lastly my younger brother, Obito"

Once again confusion spread over the three leaders of Konoha's faces but was covered when the Hokage said, "It's a pleasure to meet you all. Why don't I and my two advisors, Jiraiya and Tsunade escort you to your hotel so you all can relax? I would also like to invite you, Uzukage-sama and your family to tea in my office if you would care to join me"

"It would be our pleasure" Kushina said causing the Hokage to give a grandfatherly smile and lead the way.

"So what happened to those two old sacks of dust, you called advisors Hiruzen?" Zare asked.

"They were executed" Tsunade said flatly.

"Turns out, the two of them and the civilian council were in on the plan to execute the four of you" Jiraiya said.

"Well as long as the two of you do a better job than those decrepit walking corpses, you won't hear a peep put of me" Zare said, "Now I just wish I could have been there to see them hang"

"You missed out, it was very satisfying to watch" Tsunade said.

An hour later, the Uzumaki Clan entered the Hokage's office while Zare entered last and performed a few hand seals behind his back, while closing the door then said, "We have complete privacy"

After that, Hiruzen got up from his chair and walked up to Kushina who removed her Uzukage hat and said, "It's good to see again, Sarutobi-san, Tsunade-sensei, Jiraiya-san"

"And you Kushina-chan" Hiruzen said as he enveloped the woman in a grandfatherly hug.

"Minatsu-chan how have you been?" Hiruzen said as he released Kushina and hugged Minatsu.

"Just fine, thank you" Minatsu said.

"Kushina! My God you look simply spectacular" Tsunade said as she hugged her former student, "*Gasp* To be a Kage, you have really done well for yourself. At long last Jiraiya can no longer gloat about having raised a Kage, since I've joined the club"

The next half hour was spent with heartfelt emotion as Hiruzen, Jiraiya and Tsunade greeted the new and old faces, as well as commenting on how happy Obito, Sasuke and especially Naruto looked.

Then he asked the question not everyone was looking forward to explaining, "Why did you introduce Obito-kun and Sasuke-kun as you brother and son?"

"Oh! Can I tell him please!?" Zare said almost jumping in his place like a five year old.

"If you want" Kushina said.

"Oh this is going to be delicious" Zare said as he stood up, "Obito, Sasuke, back me up"

An hour and a half later, the Sandaime and his advisors sat back in their chairs with a mixture of amazement and slight horror on his face.

"Obito-kun, Sasuke-kun" Hiruzen said, catching the two men's attention, "Has this choice made you happy?"

"Yes" they both replied causing the elderly man to massage the bridge of his nose.

"I'm glad, but you do realise the repercussions this will cause will be apocalyptic, not to mention the amount of paperwork involved?" Hiruzen asked.

"You're talking to me about paper work?" Kushina said incredulously, "I have three out boxes labelled 'Accepted', 'Declined' and 'W.T.F'. I get two hundred and fifty requests everyday asking me to ban the colour 'Purple' and I don't mean the book"

The Hokage burst out laughing which turned into a coughing fit resulting in Minatsu patting his back and running a quick check-up while Zare said, "Oi, Oi, a man in your old age shouldn't be putting so much stress on his body, you might hurt yourself"

"Your one to talk, Zare-kun" Hiruzen said.

"Yes, but unlike you, I have a non-corporeal entity sealed within me, granting me eternal life" Zare said just as Umbrea jumped out of his chest in the form of a two tailed black cat and landed on the Hokage's desk. She groomed herself for a few seconds before looking the Hokage in the eyes and in a very seductive voice said, "You want to touch me?"

While the Hokage had a bit more control over himself, Jiraiya, being the pervert he was, blushed slightly while a thin trickle of blood emerged from his nose causing Naruto to take on a look of horror, point accusingly at the toad sage and yell out, "ERO-JIJI! ERO-JIJI! OH THE HORROR, SOMEONE GIVE ME A CHEESE GRATER SO I CAN SHAVE MY EYES OUT!"

Naruto continued to rant until it was cut short by a swift whack over the head from both Chizuru and Akiba.

"Ow" the blond Genin said as he clutched his head.

"Wait, Otou-san, you just told them about Umbrea" Akiba said.

"Oh please, I told the Hokage about her ages ago, while Tsunade and Jiraiya figured it out. Luckily, Orochimaru never caught on, boy would that have been a headache"

Once their tea with the Hokage was over, the group split into three and went their separate ways.

Minatsu and Kushina, along with their Jounin guards, went to the Hokage's Memorial to pay their respects to Kushina's late husband, while Chizuru, Takashi, Hikaru and Kaoru headed back to the hotel. Zare, Obito, Sasuke, Naruto and Akiba, on the other hand decided to look around the village while giving Akiba a tour. After a while Naruto, Sasuke and Akiba asked if they could go off on their own leaving Zare and Obito to their own devices.

"So what'cha wants to do?" Obito asked.

"Drinking contest?" Zare asked innocently.

"You're on!" Obito called out as they both dashed off towards the nearest bar.

Naruto, Sasuke and Akiba walked calmly down the streets, ignoring the villagers' hateful and/or surprised stares that were directed to either Naruto or Sasuke, while the hateful one were for Naruto's pleasure only.

"I can see why you left" Akiba said, "Does it still bother you?"

"Not anymore" Naruto said as he placed his hands behind his head, "Well it's a lot less than before. Besides it doesn't matter, I don't have any intention of returning to Konoha, but I will try to protect it as best I can"

"Not to mention the horde of fan-girls waiting for you back home" Sasuke said as all three of them shuddered violently, yes all three of them had both fan-girls and boys that chased after them on a regular basis, although there were more boys than girls in Akiba's case.

The group was suddenly forced to turn around when they heard a rather high-pitched, feminine voice say, "Naruto? Sasuke-kun? I-Is that really you?"

When the group turned around they were greeted by familiar head of pink hair that made Naruto almost squeal in joy.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto yelled out causing the pinkette to run towards them and capture both boys in a hug. The two boys returned the hug with heavy hearts as they realised, just how much pain they must have put their former teammate, not to mention their other friends, through.

"You're back. I can't believe you're finally back" Sakura sobbed causing the two boys to push her away slightly.

"Yeah, but... only until the end of the exams, after that were going back home to Uzugakure" Naruto said.

"But... Konoha is your home" Sakura said almost pleadingly.

"Not... anymore" Sasuke said as he averted the kunoichi's gaze.

Sakura looked like she was going to burst into tears yet again which the boys picked up on causing Naruto to say, "Sakura-chan, there are some people I want you to meet. It will help explain why we have to go back"

"O-Ok" Sakura said.

Once the exchange was over Akiba cleared her throat, politely drawing attention to herself.

"Oh! Here's one of them now" Naruto said with a chuckle causing Akiba to roll her eyes, "Aki-chan, I want you to meet our old teammate, Haruno Sakura. Sakura-chan, I want you to meet our cousin, Uzumaki Akiba, she's Zare-ji-san's daughter"

"I-it's nice to meet you" Sakura said.

"It's nice to finally meet you too" Akiba said.

The group walked along for a few more steps before Sakura said, "Wait! What do you mean our cousin?"

"Yeah our cousin" Naruto said, "Mine and Sasuke's"

"Oh" Sakura said with understanding, "Wait, what!? How's that possible? Sasuke-kun isn't related to you" Sakura said.

"I am now" Sasuke said.

"Since when?" Sakura said.'

"Since two months ago" Naruto said as he looked at his watch.

"How?" Sakura asked.

"Sasuke and his uncle were adopted into the clan. Naruto's mom adopted Sasuke as her son, while my mom and Naruto's mom adopted Sasuke's uncle as their younger brother" Akiba said.

"You have a mom!?" Sakura said incredulously, "I thought you were an orphan"

"Turns out I wasn't" Naruto said as he shrugged, "They were the people I wanted you to meet. That way you could understand why we had to go back"

"I see" Sakura said with a sad smile before something bumped into her making her fall onto her rear end then yell out, "HEY WATCH IT!"

"You watch it, ugly" said a very young voice.

Naruto took in the young boy's appearance and instantly yelled out, "KONOHAMARU!"

The small boy recognised the voice and slowly looked up to see Naruto look down at him.

"BOSS!" the small boy yelled out as he tackled the blond Genin in a crushing hug.

"YOU'RE BACK! YOU'RE BACK, BOSS, YOU'RE BACK!" Konohamaru said as he cried into Naruto's stomach.

"Hey, hey, you're supposed to be a big boy. Big boys don't cry" Naruto said as he rubbed the boy's head.

Konohamaru lifted his head to show that there were copious amounts of tears streaming down his face, not to mention the dribble coming out of his nose.

"Here use this" Akiba said as she took out a handkerchief and helped the small boy clean his face.

"Who's this?" Konohamaru said, pointing to Akiba.

"My cousin" Naruto said matter of factly.

"YOU HAVE A COUSIN!" Konohamaru yelled out causing Naruto to stick a finger in his left ear and wiggle it about while tightly closing his left eye.

"Yes and an aunt and an uncle and an uncle and a mom and a sister and a brother and a brother and a brother and a brother" Naruto said as he counted them off, "Wow, I have a big family... Wanna meet 'em?"

"Sure" Konohamaru said as he got up and ran down the street then around a corner. The group continued in their own pace until they heard a high pitched yelp come from the corner the small boy ran around, causing them to speed up their pace.

When they turned the corner, they saw Konohamaru being held, by his collar, by a moderately tall person, clad in black with what appeared to look like cat-ear-like protrusion at the top of his head purple markings on his face and carrying a large object, bound in white gauze, on his back.

"Oi, kid you should watch where you're going" the teen said crassly.

"Hey, put him down" Naruto called out.

"Or what?" the black clad ninja said with large amounts of killing intent.

"I said 'Put. Him. Down'" Naruto said, as Akiba, Sasuke, and Naruto increased their killing intent, two-fold, five-fold then ten-fold with the last three words said.

"Kankuro put him down. We're not here to pick a fight" a feminine voice said as a teenage woman with blond hair, tied back on either side of her head, carrying a wide, long black plank like object on her back.

"But Temari" Kankuro started but was cut off when a large amount of killing intent was felt from behind the foreign ninjas causing the painted-nin to drop Konohamaru who scrambled behind Naruto.

Suddenly a boy with blood red hair, black rings surrounding his eyes, and the kanji for 'Love' on his forehead, carrying a large gourd on his back dropped down between the two groups. When Naruto gave the boy a once over, he felt his vision blur slightly and what seemed to be a strange aura surround the boy, but just as sudden as it appeared, it disappeared. Naruto shook his head slightly then rubbed his eyes before looking back up to the trio.

"Were leaving" the red head said as the group turned around and walked down the street.

After a few moments, Naruto ran after them and called out, gaining their attention.

"Hey, you're not from around here, mind if I ask your name?" Naruto asked.

"Gaara, Sabaku no Gaara" the boy said with a slight amount of confusion.

"Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto, it's nice to meet you. So ,er, where you from? I'm from Uzugakure" Naruto said with a smile.

"Suna" Kankuro snorted, "Just look at our symbol, don't they teach you this kinda thing?"

"Zip it tranny, I was talking to your teammate" Naruto said with contempt before turning his attention back to Gaara and said, "Honestly, how do you deal with a male teammate who likes to wear make-up and probably likes to cross dress in his spare time. I was told my uncle once did that but I didn't believe them until they showed me a picture and after that I had nightmares for weeks"

"You... get used to it... I think" Gaara said, confusion very evident on his face as the only thought that went through his head was 'Why isn't he scared of me?'

"Oh, well it was nice chatting, I have to go, my uncle's probably waiting for us at the hotel. Cya at the exams" Naruto said as he went to pat Gaara on the shoulder but a barrier of what appeared to be sand stopped Naruto's hand from proceeding.

"Whoa! How'd you do that? That's so cool!" Naruto said with genuine surprise and excitement.

"Uh, it's a special ability he has, look we really have to go, our sensei is probably looking for us" Temari said urging her teammates to follow while she thought, 'What the hell is wrong with this kid?'

"Oh, sorry about that, bye" Naruto said before running back to his group.

"What was that about?" Akiba asked.

"Oh I thought he looked familiar, turns out he was from Suna" Naruto said before mentally contacting Zare through his pendant and having a connection with Sasuke and Akiba made as well.

"I think I found another Jinchuriki" Naruto sent over the connection.

"What!?" Sasuke and Akiba replied.

"Are you sure?" Zare asked.

"Not exactly, but when I looked at him, my vision blurred and I saw this shadow with a long fat tail surrounding him" Naruto said.

"Hmm, I'll have Mina-chan, give you a once over when you get back and I'll take a look in your mind tonight" Zare replied, "Is there anything else you can tell me, any noticeable features or abilities?"

"Well, he did have dark rings around his eyes and when I tried to pat him on the shoulder, a barrier of sand stopped my hand from touching him" Naruto replied.

"It sounds like the Ichibi no Shukaku, but I'll take a look into it" Zare replied.

"Thanks" Naruto said, "And if I'm right, could you get rid of the Biju like you did for me?"

"Only if he's willing, after that I'll need to get a good look at his seal to determine whether I can get rid of the beast or not. Now hurry up and get back to the hotel, Kushina wants the three of you to have an early night, the exam starts at ten and is in room 301 at the academy"

"We're on our way" the three Genin replied as the connection was cut off.

As the group continued down the street Naruto suddenly turned excited and asked, "Hey, Sakura-chan, are you participating in the exams as well?"

"No" Sakura said sadly, "After you two left, Team 7 was disbanded, but I've still been training, especially with Kurenai-sensei and I've been helping out at the hospital trying to learn how to be a medic-nin"

"Oh" Naruto said with masked sadness, "But you can always try next time, so cheer up. I'm sure you'll make Chunin in no time"

"Thanks" Sakura said with a somewhat happy smile.

The next day, Team Uzumaki, as they had come to be called, were on the second floor of the academy when there were suddenly faced by a large, noisy crowd. Deciding to find out what the commotion was the group started pushing through. Naruto wore a red t-shirt and black cargo trousers that had an orange strip going down each side with his Uzugakure headband being used as a belt. He also wore black shinobi sandals and a black trench coat with the kanji for 'Mama's Boy' written on the back and the Uzugakure symbol embroidered on each shoulder in orange. The coat also acted as a shinobi vest and had several secret storage compartments on the inside, while it helped conceal the Konoha headband he had tied to his left arm. Sasuke wore grey camo-trousers and black sandals, with a white t-shirt and a black, sleeveless denim jacket that was a shinobi vest in disguise, with his forehead protector around his neck, while the metal plate of his Konoha headband was attached to the flap of his weapons pouch. Akiba wore a modified shinobi vest, designed specifically around her, with a purple t-shirt underneath. She also had on a black mini skirt and dark blue tights that ended just above her knees and purple sandals while her forehead protector was used to hold back her hair.

"Excuse me" Naruto said as he pushed forward.

"Coming through" Sasuke said as he gently moved a kunoichi aside.

"Pardon-GET YOU HAND OFF MY ASS, BOY" Akiba yelled before slapping the culprit. That caused the rest of the crowd to part and let the three of them through.

When they got to the front, they were just in time to see a boy wearing spandex, a horrifying shade of green, and a bowl haircut, get tossed to the ground.

"What's going on here?" Sasuke said loudly.

"Weeding out the runts, like this one, so they don't waste the examiner's time" one of the assailants said, who looked surprisingly like Kotetsu while the other looked like Izumo except both were remarkably younger.

"That's absolutely lovely" Akiba said with genuine feeling, "But do you mind, you're blocking the way to the staircase and we really need to get to room 301"

"This is room 301" the mini Kotetsu said as he pointed to the door next to him.

"And yet we are on the second floor" Naruto pointed out causing everyone behind them to find either the floor, ceiling, wall, or finger nails ludicrously fascinating.

As Naruto, Sasuke, and Akiba pushed by, Akiba looked over her shoulder and said, "Normally I'd tell you not to quit your day job since your attempt to deceive us sucked, but since you were able to weed out the people who don't know how to count, I say 'good on you'"

Once they had climbed the stairs, the trio entered what seemed to be an empty training hall. As they crossed it, Sasuke sensed something approaching and reacted just in time to swat a kunai away with the back of his hand.

"Impressive" said a boy with long black hair, pupil-less white eyes wearing a white t-shirt and black shorts, "I didn't know it was possible to deflect a kunai unarmed, and with the back of your hand none the less, I'd expect nothing less of an Uchiha"

"I had a good teacher" Sasuke replied with a smirk, "And for your information, I'm not an Uchiha anymore, I'm an Uzumaki. Remember it"

"That's irrelevant, all that matters is that we are fated to do battle" the boy said as he rushed forward.

Sasuke easily dodged the strike and added insult to injury by doing it with his eyes closed before grabbing onto the boy's wrist and dropping to one knee then delivered a semi-restrained punch to his side. Next, Sasuke performed a complete 450° turn and shoved his palm up into the boys elbow with severely reduced force, so as not to cause it to hyper-extend but still causing a lot of pain.

As the boy staggered backwards, clutching his elbow Sasuke said, "Normally I'd add a little bit of chakra to make sure I broke it, but I really didn't feel like it. If you are done wasting my time I'd like to go"

"Neji" the boy said causing the group to look back at them, "My name is Hyuuga Neji, remember it"

"Only if you will grant me the same honour" Sasuke said, "and remember mine, its Uzumaki Sasuke"

Neji gave a nod of acknowledgement and the group turned to leave, but were interrupted yet again when a green blur stopped in front of Akiba and took one of her hand in his and said, OH! Such beauty, such youthfulness, such exotic eyes. WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME!?"

"Sorry sweetie, you're not my type" Akiba said as she withdrew her hand, "But I'm in town for a while, so look me up and I'll hook you up" the last was said with a seductive grin, clearly she'd been spending too much time taking acting and seduction lessons from her mother.

"YOSH! TO CELEBRATE I'LL DO A HUNDRED LAPS OF KONOHA IN TEN MINUTES" boy in green spandex said as he began jumping about.

"LEE WILL YOU SIT STILL FOR MORE THAN TEN SECONDS?" a female voice yelled from the corridor Team Uzumaki had entered from, "Your as hyper as a squirrel doped up on caffeine and weed"

"I SHALL NEVER STOP BEING YOUTHFUL, TENTEN, ITS IN MY SOUL" the green mass of energy exclaimed causing Akiba to sweat drop while sneaking out with her teammates.

"Why do I always get the freakish ones?" Akiba asked.

"Cause they're stupid and think they actually have a chance" Naruto said as the group approached a door and in front of them were two people Naruto and Sasuke recognised instantly though Akiba only recognised one of them.

"Kakashi-sensei! Zare-oji-san! What are you doing here?" Naruto called out.

"We're here to wish you luck" Zare said with a smile.

"It's good to see you two again" Kakashi said.

"Who is this person?" Akiba asked.

"This is our old sensei Hatake Kakashi, Kaka-chan-sensei, meet our cousin Akiba" Naruto said.

"Oh so you are the weird, brooding Cyclops that likes to read porn on a daily basis and has an insatiable urge to be late" Akiba said with revelation causing Kakashi to chuckle nervously before looking at Zare and asking, "What have you been telling her?"

To which Zare replied, "I haven't, the two of them plus your former teammate have"

"You do realise we're getting late for an exam" Sasuke said.

"Oh, right" Zare said before giving each of them a hug and wishing them luck, while Kakashi just wished them luck then they both disappeared in puffs of smoke.

After a few moments the group pushed the doors open and entered. They were greeted by a room full of Genin from almost all the ninja villages. As they entered the room, Akiba commented on the number of people before a loud squeal was heard and Sasuke was glomped by a purple and blond mass.

"What the hell?" Sasuke said as he struggled to his feet.

"What is that?" Akiba said pointing to the blond and purple mass hanging onto Sasuke.

"A very common species here in Konoha" Naruto said, "Fanus Girlus and if memory serves correct, she is one of the two alphas of her pack"

"Ino, will you get off of me?" Sasuke grunted.

"But Sasuke-kun~" Ino said.

"Ino please get off him, he's starting to turn blue from lack of air" Naruto said.

"SHUT IT NARU-BAKA!" Ino said as she threw a punch, but was caught by Akiba.

"Please don't punch my cousin, it's very rude" Akiba said.

"Who the hell are you?" Ino said with disdain.

"I'm Naruto's and Sasuke's cousin, now would you please get off him, he really is having difficulty breathing" Akiba said.

"GET OFF ME!" Sasuke yelled as he freed himself and Ino fell to the ground with a loud thump.

"Sasuke-kun you're so cool and sexy" Ino said.

Sasuke looked like he was about to vomit before being hugged by Akiba who soothingly caressed the back of his head and said, "I feel your pain" while Naruto nodded sagely.

"Naruto, glad to see you're back. I didn't know you had a cousin" came a rather lazy voice that Naruto recognised instantly.

"SHIKAMARU!" Naruto yelled and tried to glomp the lazy teen, but was side stepped and ran right into a boy with a rather hefty build.

Naruto looked at the boy and said, "Hey Choji, what's up?"

"Yo Naruto, how ya been? Glad to see you're back" the boy said while consuming large amounts of potato chips.

"Oh, you know same old, same old" Naruto said.

"HEY LOOKS LIKE THE ROOKIE NINE ARE FINALLY BACK TOGETHER" said a loud voice that everyone in the group, except Akiba, recognised.

"K-Kiba-kun, i-it's not nice t-to sh-sh-shout so much" said a timid girl with short dark-violet hair and white pupil-less eyes.

"Not entirely together" said a stoic voice that came from a boy wearing a high collar jacket and sunglasses.

"Kiba, Hinata-chan, Shino how ya been?" Naruto said with a smile.

"Hey! Naruto! Sasuke! You're back!" Kiba called out as a white puppy popped its head out from inside his jacket.

"A PUPPY!" Akiba squealed and dashed in front of Kiba.

"Can I pet him?" Akiba asked almost pleadingly.

"Umm, sure but- WAH!" Kiba said with surprise as Akiba reached into the boy's jacket and pulled the white puppy out before hopping onto a table and petting the dog.

"What's his name?" Akiba asked.

"It's Akamaru" Kiba said causing the puppy to bark in response, "Hey Naruto, who's she?"

"Our cousin" Sasuke said.

"WHAT!?" the others asked.

Naruto sighed and explained how his family had 'adopted' Obito and Sasuke and had just finished when an unknown voice filled their ears, "You know, I can tell this is your first time taking the exam. You're making an awful amount of noise"

The group turned to see an older teen with a Konoha forehead protector, glasses and silver hair walking up to them.

"Who're you?" Kiba asked.

"Yakushi Kabuto and if I were you I'd keep it down, you're drawing way too much attention to yourselves" the teen said and to prove his point, several kunai were launched at Akiba from somewhere in the crowd. Everyone except Naruto and Sasuke gasped as Akiba dodged all the projectiles flawlessly without so much as moving her lower body and even snatched the kunai that was aimed at Kiba's head from mid-air before tossing it out the window, all the while having her attention completely focused on Akamaru, who was curled up in her lap, with her back facing the crowd.

After the assault was over, Akiba hopped off the table and handed Akamaru back to Kiba before turning to her two cousins and said, "Shall we?"

"Why not?" Sasuke said as all three turned to face the crowd and released a horribly suppressing aura that made many of the Genins candidates soil themselves, however this feeling wasn't killing intent, but pure unrestrained blood lust.

Those who were able to withstand the mental assault saw a very unusual sight; the three of them actually looked moderately bored as they released ridiculous amounts of blood lust. Akiba was twirling a kunai in her hand, Sasuke was examining his nails while Naruto absent mindedly scanned the crowd until he spotted Gaara and waved happily at him while smiling all the while making it very well known that they craved blood. The only ones, who found this sight amusing, were the other Genins from Uzugakure, since they had sparred with each other and were used to it.

After a few moments, the door at the front of the room slammed open and a tall muscular man wearing a long over coat and a bandana walked into the room and said, "ALRIGHT YOU BRATS, SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN! The name's Morino Ibiki, welcome to the Gates of Hell"

After the explanation was given, the exam started and Naruto was sweating bullets.

After an hour, Naruto was about to lose it when he suddenly heard Akiba in his head asking, "Naruto can you hear me?" during the time they were training their Uzumaki Dairokkan, the trio learned how to communicate, telepathically, with each other, much like they could with Zare, but only if they were within each other's sensory range, beyond that and they would need to connect with Zare first before reaching out to each other.

"Loud and clear" Naruto said, "And just in time too, I was just about to sucker punch the guy in front of me and take his paper, I can't believe the bastard's already finished"

"Oh my God, do it" Sasuke said, "It will be epic"

"WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP AND LISTEN" Akiba mentally yelled.

"Sorry" both boys said while messaging their aching heads.

"I think the whole point of this exam is to cheat and NOT get caught. These questions are so ridiculously tough that the only way to get it right is to either know them before hand or cheat"

"Ok so where does that leave me?" Naruto said but only got a feeling of confusion as a reply.

"*sigh* Sasuke you can use your Sharingan to copy someone while Aki-chan can flirt with someone to make them drop their guard or get them caught. I can't do any of that shit so what about me?" Naruto said.

"Just do what you were going to do earlier, punch the guy in front of you and take his paper" Sasuke said.

"Fine, but the two of you are going to have to help me think up an excuse that justifies my actions" Naruto said.

With that Sasuke activated his Sharingan and began copying from the person in front of him while Akiba placed a hand on the thigh of the boy next to her and ever so gently caressed it causing him to blush and look at her, getting him caught by a proctor and removed from the room while Akiba expertly switched the papers and renamed them. Ironically enough the boy that got caught was the same boy that tried to grab Akiba's behind when they were on the second floor. After they were done, they re-linked with Naruto and the blond put his plan into action.

Naruto leaned forward and tapped the shoulder of the boy in front of him. As the boy turned, he was met with a powerful and accurate fist to the face that sent him flying head first into the chalk board some ten feet ahead while Naruto leaned forward and snatched the exam paper then wrote his name on it. Noticing the looks he was getting, Naruto spike his killing intent and threw in some blood lust for good measure and yelled out, "THE HELL YOU LOOKING AT?!?" causing them to sweat and return to their tests papers while Akiba and Sasuke started laughing hysterically.

Ibiki recovered from the shock before everyone else and began grilling Naruto, "Number 25, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Naruto grinned at the scarred man as he said, "Getting my answers, you didn't say we couldn't cheat, you just said you'd take away points if we did, I now have all my points so take away two, I don't care"

Ibiki's lips twitched, "What makes you think I won't fail you?"

Naruto threw his feet on his desk and said, "Because your test is complete bullshit and I beat the system, you set it up so that we have to cheat without getting caught. How, the hell, are people without a Jutsu or Kekkei Genkai that is tailored for such a thing supposed to do that? It's a messed up system of favouritism for people with the birth right, guys like me can be as stealthy as a damn ghost, but when you tie our hands like this there's not much subtlety we can do to get the job done. If I was gonna get caught cheating ANYWAY, then I might as well take the bitch for everything in one shot. I mean come on, he finished in half an hour, you'd be pissed too if you were in my position. All you can do is deduct the points for cheating once so tally 'em up Scarface I still got eight"

A thud against a desk across the room could be heard as Ryuji shouted, "FUCK!!! That's brilliant! Why the hell didn't I think of that!? You go, Naruto-sama!"

Ibiki had to admit, he had his excuse together and said, "I also said that you couldn't fight without my permission"

Naruto grinned wider, "Oh yeah… well if you call one punch a fight. So… can I fight?"

Ibiki grinned back at the blond, "Fine, I'll allow it, but if anyone else tries it you will be kicked out of the exam!"

An uproar broke out when Kankuro stood up and said, "Then why the hell can he get away with it?"

Ibiki snapped at them, "Because he did it first, and I don't think the same thing will work twice now that everyone will be on their guard. Besides he did ask, even if it was after the fact"

An hour later, the exam was brought to an end and the details regarding the tenth question were given out.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Naruto yelled at Ibiki, "You make us sit here for over two hours and then give us the option to drop out, stuck as Genin forever?"

"Why the hell aren't you scared of me kid?" Ibiki asked.

"Oh please, I have an uncle who could fuck you over, scissor style. I saw him smile as he pulled kunai out of his left lung and even crack a joke while drowning in his own blood. He taught me everything I know about being a ninja and compared to him you're as harmless as a newborn kitten. I'm not scared of you" Naruto said causing the head of Konohagakure T&I to burst out in hearty laughter and asked, "Who's your uncle, kid? Sounds like a right kick in the teeth"

"The same person who's my Jounin-sensei, Makizaki Sazare, Uzugakure no Daraku Tenshi, so suck on that" Naruto said proudly while Ibiki and several proctors raised an eyebrow.

"Yeesh Naruto, what the hell's wrong with you? You PMS worse than I do" Akiba said.

"You did eat breakfast right?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto thought about it for a moment then hung his head low and said, "I forgot"

"Figures" both Akiba and Sasuke thought as they sweat dropped.

"You still didn't answer my question 'Will you answer the tenth question or opt out and forever be stuck a Genin?'" Ibiki asked.

"Like hell I'm bailing" Naruto said as he placed one foot on top of the table, "A ninja is all about taking risks, actually it's all about a lot of things but you catch my drift. You can't take a take a risk, you might as well wear a sign that says 'I suck at being a ninja, please kill me in the most painful way possible'. So I say, 'Bring it on' if worst comes to worst I shove a sword up your ass for pissing me off"

"That's the kind of thing I like to hear, so here's the tenth question 'You All Pass'" Ibiki said leaving everyone left in the room speech less.

"Alright, bend over Bitch" Naruto said as he took out a pair of black fingerless gloves and put them on he was going to summon his sword using the specialised storage seal Zare had developed with the Yondaime Hokage, since they were pseudo-intelligent, you only needed to call out the weapon's name before the seal sent it out.

Just before Naruto could clap his hands together, the window at the very front of the room exploded as a large ball flew in that cracked in half spewing confetti everywhere and a sign that said 'Mitarashi Anko, Sexy Tokubetsu Jounin of Konoha Has Arrived'.

"Alright you bitches, shut the fuck or get the fuck out. I don't want any whining from any of you 'cause it's time for the second stage of the Chunin exams, Mitarashi Anko has arrived" said a female voice as a woman with sand coloured eyes, wearing a sandy trench coat, a fishnet top and a dark orange skirt jumped through the window.

Forty-five minutes later, all the Genins that had passed the first stage were gathered around training ground 44 a.k.a. 'The Forest of Death'.

"Alright, now that I've explained the rules, I want you to sign these waiver forms, releasing Konohagakure from any kind of responsibility in the event of the unforeseen. After you hand in your forms, you will be given either a Heaven Scroll or an Earth Scroll as well as a number designating which gate you will start from. Now enough chatting, get going you maggots" Anko said.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**Hey guys what's up? So here is chapter 12 and 13 for you literary pleasure. Anyway, I really can't think of what to write here so ummmmm. Ah whatever, enjoy this chapter and the next one. **

**Enjoy**


	13. A Serpentine Threat

Chapter 13

**To those of you who have already read this chapter please scroll to the bottom. A very important question has been asked and I need an opinion on this it.**

* * *

When the gates opened, the Uzumaki trio rushed in as fast as they could and continued running until they were a fair distance into the forest before finding a hollowed out tree and taking refuge so they could properly plan.

"Let's summon our weapons" Akiba said.

"Why? It'll just add weight" Naruto said.

"But it will save us time. If we get into a bad situation, it will take too much time to summon our weapons and in a battle with this many unknowns, time is a luxury we do not have" Akiba explained.

"Your right" Sasuke said, "In that case, we will have to choose weapons that will compensate for where the other person falls short. What are you gonna use, Aki-chan?"

"I'm going with Battle Hammer" Akiba said.

"Then I'll go with Dual Wield Katana" Naruto said, "It will make up for Aki-chan's lack of speed, while she makes up for my lack of power"

"Fine, I use a chain scythe it will give us a range boost" Sasuke said.

"Perfect, let's summon them and get going; I want to get to the tower as soon as possible so we can rest before the third stage" Akiba said while she put on her gloves that let her summon weapons as did Naruto and Sasuke before exiting the hollow. When they were in the open, all three of them clapped their hands together and pumped chakra into the seals on their gloves until they began to glow before slamming both palms onto the ground and calling out the names of their weapons.

"Taira: Kokuyoseki no Yuwaku" Akiba said before a loud *poof* was heard and when the smoke cleared it revealed a large, shiny black hammer with a spike protruding out of the top and a handle with red wrapping.

"Tatsu: Kuro Yoake!" Naruto called out and when the smoke cleared it revealed two red Katanas with orange tinted blades.

"Kari to Hakai: Akuma no Kiba" Sasuke said as a chain scythe with deep blue blades, ivory handles attached by a long black chain materialised from the smoke.

Once they had equipped their weapons Akiba said, "Excellent" before they leapt onto some tree branches and headed off towards the tower.

Half an hour later, the trio sensed the group of Genin tailing them thanks to their mutual Kekkei Genkai and stopped in a clearing. Naruto opened his senses while Sasuke silently went through a series of hand seals and placed his hands on the ground. Akiba, meanwhile held her hammer behind her, ready to strike while charging it with fire chakra causing it to glow red as the ground in front of her turned to mud and rose until it took the shape of a sphere on a thin pedestal. The trio held their positions like that until Naruto gave the signal at which point Akiba swung the hammer with all her might, smashing the mud ball causing it to catch on fire and rocket off towards her target. When the flaming mud ball clipped the side of a tree, it exploded fiercely causing the tree to collapse all the while the trio were communicating with each other telepathically. After the explosion Naruto disappeared in a yellow blur only to return a few minutes later.

"Find a scroll?" Akiba asked.

"Yeah, but it was Earth, we need a Heaven" Naruto said.

"Let's keep going" Sasuke said as he jumped onto a branch followed by his two teammates.

"You know I'm so glad we worked on our Collaboration Jutsus" Akiba said, "Combining Doton: Doro Dama with Katon: Hoka Tsuchi to form Ryusei Bakudan was a brilliant idea"

"What can I say? I like thing that go boom" Sasuke said.

"Don't we all" Naruto replied with a chuckle.

Two hours later, the trio had encountered over five Genin teams and none of them had a Heaven Scroll, Naruto, Sasuke and Akiba were officially pissed.

"Is there no one with bloody, goddamn Heaven Scroll in this fucking forest" Akiba yelled out.

A few seconds later, a roar was heard followed by the sounds of trees breaking before a bear of ungodly size was seen charging at them.

Naruto and Sasuke looked at the beast in shock while Akiba's face darkened then took a few steps forward.

"Alright boys, looks like we're having bear for dinner" Akiba said darkly as her hammer took on a yellow glow with sparks dancing across the surface.

When the bear got within range, Akiba jumped and smashed her weapon into the side of the beast's head, instantly breaking its neck as the head smashed into the side of a tree and collapsed in on itself. In a fraction of a second, it was over and the bear lay dead on the forest floor.

"On second thought, I don't feel all that hungry, let's go" Akiba said now in a much happier tone of voice.

"Note to self, never piss off Aki-chan" the two boys thought as they looked over the mutilated remains of a bear head before running off to catch up with Akiba.

A few moments before they were going to stop to rest for the night, Naruto suddenly gave the order to scatter just as a ludicrously fierce wind tore through the area. When they gathered again, they were met by a Kusa-nin with long brown hair and a ridiculously long tongue.

"Kukukukuku, I'm surprised you were able to dodge that" the Kusa-nin, obviously a female said.

"Actually we were about to step on a centipede, those things are nasty" Naruto said mockingly, "And you aren't winning any beauty contests either"

"Hmph" the Nin said then took out a scroll, "I see you have an Earth Scroll"

"Yeah what about it?" Naruto said as he drew his weapons.

"I have a Heaven Scroll, you want it?" the Nin said before opening her mouth and swallowing the thing whole, "Come and get it"

Naruto's and Sasuke's faces twisted into a look of disgust before Akiba broke them out of their trance and said, "Boys"

"Yes Aki-chan" both boys said in unison.

"Gut her like a fish" she said with an evil smirk and emitting copious amounts of blood lust.

"At once Mistress" they both said before dashing forward while Akiba raised an eyebrow then disappeared in a swirl of black mist.

The Kusa-nin was thoroughly surprised, when Naruto crossed the fifteen feet distance in less than a second and narrowly had time to dodge when Naruto swung both blades, which were charged with wind chakra, at her abdomen resulting in only her garments being cut. However this left the ninja open to Sasuke's attack who had just thrown both blades at her while holding onto the chain and watched as the wrapped themselves around the ninja before embedding themselves in the trunk behind her. Once the blades were embedded, Sasuke tugged on the chain causing them to tighten around the Kusa-nin, binding her arms to her sides while Sasuke pumped minor amounts of lightning chakra into the chain resulting in a minor paralysis.

While the Kusa-nin tried to struggle free two shadows fell upon her as two Akibas appeared on either side, hammers at the ready glowing a deep blue significant of water chakra. The Kusa-nin was finally able to wriggle free, jumped backwards and smirked while both Akibas smirk even harder and called out, "Suiton: Suiryoku Raikan" and swung the hammers towards each other.

When the hammer faces met, the sound it created was indescribable as a vertical, radial wave of water chakra burst out from the impact site. The characteristics of the wave were similar to an oceanic depth charge as the wood under their feet was torn up as if subjected to immense pressure. Even the Kusa-nin was knocked back into the tree behind them with enough force to cause the bark to crater before another Akiba appeared and swung her hammer hard into the opponent's stomach causing her eyes to bug out and a scroll to fly out of her mouth. Once Akiba saw the scroll, she released the fire chakra she was collecting at the back of the hammer in the form of an explosion resulting in a rocket effect as the hammer was pushed even further, forcing the Kusa-nin through the tree and out the back end before being sent flying through the forest.

Akiba then grabbed the scroll and performed Shunshin to get back to where Naruto and Sasuke were and said, "Well I got the- EWWWWW ITS SLIMY" before tossing the scroll to Naruto who wrapped it in a piece of fabric and pocketed it while Akiba used sanitising gel to clean her hands.

Suddenly the sound of sadistic giggling was heard as the voice of the Kusa-nin deepened to a raspy almost snake like tone. The trio turned around as saw the same Kusa-nin standing in front of them, but with half her face peeled off, revealing pasty white skin and snake like eyes.

"Holy shit Aki-chan, what the hell did you do to her?" Naruto said.

"No, it's a disguise" Akiba said as she tightened her grip on her weapon, "Who are you and what do you want?"

"Kukukuku, you are very perceptive little girl and your skills are admirable. Tell me, who is your Jounin-sensei?" the person said as they peeled the rest of the disguise off.

"That is of no concern to you" Akiba said fiercely, "Now answer my question before things get nasty"

"Normally there would be consequences for such impudence, but I'll make an exception this time" the person said, "My is Orochimaru and what I want is Sasuke"

Hearing the name, Naruto and Sasuke instantly went into battle mode and made a one-way live connection with Zare, giving him access to what they were seeing and hearing. Akiba felt this and joined in the connection then said, "Who is this Orochimaru?"

"He's a missing-nin from Konoha with the ability to summon snakes and has a nasty habit of kidnapping children and experimenting on them" Sasuke said.

"Basically a paedophile with a snake fetish" Naruto added.

"I am not a paedophile" Orochimaru said.

"Well at least he admits to having a snake fetish" Akiba said.

"ENOUGH OF THIS" Orochimaru yelled, "Now come with me Sasuke-kun"

"What do you want with me?" Sasuke growled out.

"What I want is your body and that delicious Sharingan of yours" Orochimaru said as he licked his lips.

"There is no way in hell I'm gonna let you lay one finger on Sasuke, you sick freak!" Akiba yelled out before all three of them charged at the snake Sannin.

The trio continued fighting the man almost on par until Akiba was thrown, rather roughly, against a tree with a sickening thud before she slipped into unconsciousness.

"YOU BASTARD!" Naruto yelled out in fury.

"HOW DARE YOU HURT OUR COUSIN" Sasuke shouted as his eyes spun into the blue and silver form that was the original Sharingan.

"What is the meaning of this?" Orochimaru said with shock and surprise, "What have you done to your eyes? Where is your Sharingan?"

"Hah, the eyes you are looking for is but a bastardisation of what I have" Sasuke said with an air of superiority, "and I'll make sure this is the last time you ever get to see them" then ran through a series of hand signs and yelled out, "SHIRANUI!"

Suddenly, to Orochimaru's horror, white flames erupted out of Sasuke's eyes and headed straight for the snake ninja.

Orochimaru jumped into the air and smirked as the flames passed under him, but took on a look of surprise when Sasuke performed two quick seals and the flame changed directions, heading straight towards him. Orochimaru watch in horror as the flames engulfed him and began tearing into his flesh, before falling back onto the large tree branch they were standing on.

Sasuke let out an exhausted sigh just as he sensed several people overhead and saw Zare, the psycho exam proctor and several ANBU drop down in front of them.

Naruto was about to speak but was cut off when Zare looked over his shoulder and said, "Grab Aki-chan and get out of here"

"But-" Naruto started but stopped and cringed when Zare yelled out, "I SAID 'GO'! This isn't over yet and you are still in the middle of an exam"

Naruto was about to speak but Sasuke placed a hand on his shoulder making him stop before Naruto hefted Akiba onto his back while Sasuke lifted up her weapon, with slight difficulty, and leaped off into the forest.

Once the trio had left, Zare turned to the mass of white flames as it suddenly stood up, opened its mouth and another Orochimaru emerged from within.

As the first Orochimaru disintegrated into ash, the second one stood up and said, "Anko, so good to see that you're still alive. I hope you are taking good care of the little gift I gave you"

"Orochimaru" Anko spat out as she placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Well normally I'd love to stay and chat, but I have more important things to deal with, Tah" the snake Sannin said before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Once the man was gone, Anko released the breath she was holding as Zare turned to her and said, "Mitarashi-san would you let me go check up on my students to see if they are alright?"

"I'm sorry, but the rules clearly prohibit any interaction between student and teacher until after the end of the second exam" Anko said.

"Then would you at least humour a worried man and let him go see his daughter and nephews?" Zare said.

"Ugh, fine, but no funny stuff. I'm sending two ANBUs to keep an eye on you. You will keep a two metre distance between yourself and any of your students and there will be no physical contact and no exchange of items. If you step out of any of these boundaries, you will be arrested for interference and your students will be disqualified. Are we clear?" Anko said.

"Crystal" Zare said before he and two other ANBUs left in pursuit.

A few minutes later, Zare and the two ANBUs landed onto a branch overlooking a clearing where Naruto, Sasuke and Akiba were engaged in combat against a Genin team from Oto while several Konoha Genins lay either incapacitated or stood watching.

Sasuke was facing a guy that created blasts of wind from his palms while Naruto was against a bandaged ninja with strange gauntlets that created ultrasonic sound waves that caused internal damage. Akiba was currently incapacitated as her female opponent was currently tugging Akiba back by her hair painfully.

Suddenly, yellow streaks appeared in Akiba's hair as she yelled out an order to let go while her opponent suffered an electric shock that came from nowhere.

Once the opponent was knocked back, Akiba's hand began crackling with electricity and shifted to Taijutsu as she backhanded the black haired Oto-nin across the face then punched her in the stomach, followed by a rap on the forehead with the back of her wrist and ending it with a palm thrust to the underside of the chin sending her flying back all the while releasing bursts of electricity into the girls system. Akiba then went in for the kill by having a shadow clone do a heel drop to the girl's abdomen, smashing her into the ground and having another clone perform a spin kick to the girl's back while on the rebound sending her flying, face first, into a tree.

Sasuke was starting to get annoyed with his 'gusty' opponent and decided to end it, rushing forward just as the teen thrust his hand out to create a pressure wave; Sasuke grabbed onto the wrist and shifted it causing the attack to misfire. Sasuke then performed the same combo he used on Neji before the first exam, but this time not only did he make the elbow hyper-extend, he dragged his hand from the elbow to the wrist and tightened his grip there while spinning his body and standing up at the same time before placing his other hand just under the man's armpit then pushed hard until the sound of a shoulder dislocating was heard.

Naruto had an easier time finishing his fight off since his opponent was distracted by his teammate's yell of pain letting Naruto throw him against a tree and keep him there with the underside of a sandal on his neck.

"Now normally I wouldn't have any qualms of simply crushing your throat and being done with it, but since we got strict orders not to kill from both our sensei and our Kage, I'll let you live. Now grab you teammates and piss off before I decide to stick a kunai in the back of your head" Naruto said before he released the teen and watched him scurry off with his incapacitated teammates.

"Naruto, how the hell did you get so strong? You were the dead last at the academy" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto was about to reply, but when the sound of clapping was heard, everyone looked to see Zare, still clapping, drop down along with two ANBUs.

"To answer your question, it's because I trained him and the only reason he made dead last was due to a minor loss in chakra control he was having at the time" Zare said.

"Zare-oji-san!" Naruto said as he ran forward, but was stopped by the two ANBU.

"Sorry Naru, I'm not allowed to come within two metres of any of you" Zare said, "I got permission to check up on you after what happened back there, but seeing you take out those Genin, I'd say you guys are fine. I'll see you at the tower" Zare said before he and the two ANBUs disappeared in swirls of black smoke and leaves respectively after that the gathered Konoha Genins dispersed.

The trio rested for a few hours before breaking camp and headed off towards the tower now that they had both scrolls. When they arrived at the tower, they were told they were the fourth team to arrive and followed the instructions to open the scrolls.

"IRUKA-SENSEI!" Naruto yelled in glee as the man that emerged from the scroll was none other than Naruto's and Sasuke's old academy teacher.

"Hey, boys it's good to see you again" Iruka said before being glomped by a hyper Naruto.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked.

"When I found out that the two of you had returned, I practically begged the Hokage to let me be the one to greet you when you reached the tower. So now it's my job to tell you what the meaning of the Heaven and Earth Scrolls are" Iruka said.

A few moments later Naruto, Sasuke and Akiba walked up the steps to the common area/kitchen where they were met by Zare who was cooking something while Zabuza, Ryuji, Haruka and Suzume sat at the table.

"Hey guys, take a seat lunch will be ready in a bit" Zare said.

"NARUTO-SAMA!" Ryuji yelled as he tackled the blond, he always was a bit hyper.

"Ryuji. Get. Off. Of. Me!" Naruto said until he was able to get the hyper bluenet off of him.

"Kinda remind you of some one?" Sasuke said causing Akiba, Haruka and Suzume to giggle.

"Naruto-sama, you guys made it" Ryuji said before turning to Zabuza, glaring at him and saying, "Cough it up sensei" while gesturing with his fingers.

Zabuza grumbled for a moment before taking out a sum of money and handing it over to the grinning boy.

"I can't believe you bet against us" Naruto said.

"I didn't bet against you, brat" Zabuza said, "I said you would arrive after two days while Ryuji said before, so I lost"

"What about you two?" Sasuke asked the two remaining girls.

"We stayed out of it" Haruka said, "We know better than to bet against either of them"

Suzume nodded in agreement.

"Yes well as lovely as Zabuza's lack of faith is, I would dearly like to get back to the conversation we were having earlier, regarding the first exam" Zare said as he placed a large bowl of fried rice and several other vegetable and meat dished on the table.

"Oh here" Akiba said as she took out two large back crystals and tossed them to her father.

"Wonderful" Zare said as he pocketed them, "I shall go over it and censor where appropriate so that your families can view them later"

Four days later marked the end of the second exam and all the candidates that had passed had been assembled in a small arena within the tower to hold preliminary matches since there were far too many candidates that had passed the second exam while the Jounin-senseis stood in the observation stands.

"Welcome to the Preliminary Matches for the Third Test in the Chunin Exams" the Hokage said, "First I would like to congratulate each and every one of you for making it this far. Never in the history of Konoha has there been as many Genins to reach the Third Stage in the Chunin exams as result we will be holding preliminary matches to decide who will participate in the Third Stage. Next I would like to welcome the Uzukage as well as her brother and sister here today. They have been invited to bear witness to these matches as well as the final matches during the Third Stage. Finally I'd like to introduce Hayate Gekko; he will be the proctor for these matches as well as the finals. Hayate-kun if you'd please"

"Hokage-sama" Minatsu said as she stepped forward, "Normally I wouldn't do this, but I've been frightfully bored these last few days and was wondering if you would let me take on the role of a medical technician and offer my services to anyone that requires on sight treatment"

"I don't see the problem with that, Minatsu-dono. We would be honoured to have the Head of Uzugakure's medic-nins lend her assistance" the Hokage said.

"Thank you" Minatsu said before stepping back to her original position.

"Now before we begin, is there anyone who feels like they do not feel ready enough to proceed with these matches and wishes to forfeit?" Hokage said and saw two people raise their hands, "Very well you may leave"

After the two people, who turned out to be Kabuto and one of his teammates, left, Hayate stepped forward and said, "Would all the candidates please move to the observation stands, the first match is about to begin" when everyone was in the stands, a pair of screens at the very front of the hall began spinning through a list of names until they stopped on two.

UZUMAKI SASUKE vs. HOSHIMITTSU HARUKA

Every Uzu-nin raised an eyebrow while every Konoha Jounin-sensei thought, 'Why is Sasuke's name Uzumaki and not Uchiha?'

When the combatants entered the arena, they did something that was perfectly natural for them, but very confusing for non-Uzu-nin, they bowed.

Hiruzen looked at Kushina for an answer who simply smiled and said, "Common courtesy in Uzugakure. Whenever we pit our ninjas against each other during spars or competitive matches, it is traditional to bow before the match starts. It tells your opponent that not only do you respect them, but no matter the out come there will be no hard feeling held afterwards. This is strictly competitive and all personal agendas were left behind the moment they stepped into the arena"

"A wonderful tradition" Hiruzen said, "One that I would like to see incorporated into our own education system someday"

Once Sasuke and Haruka got into battle stances, Hayate raised his hand before bringing it down in a cutting motion and yelled, "Start!"

The two of them immediately jumped back to a farther distance and threw a few kunai and shuriken at each other. After that Sasuke ran through a series of hand signs before taking a deep breath, placing his ring and index finger around his mouth and yelled, "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu" then exhaled, releasing a large fire ball at Haruka.

Seeing this fireball, Haruka quickly rung through a series of hand seals before punching the ground and yelling, "Doton: Doroko Gaeshi" as a large rectangular block of stone flipped up from the ground and blocked the attack while Haruka hid behind it.

Sasuke smirked at the defensive technique then took out several kunai with explosive tags attached and flung them at several critical points on the stone wall and waited for them to detonate. At the same time Haruka took out a scroll from her pouch and unravelled it slightly until it revealed a sealing set and began charging her hands with chakra. When the tags exploded and the wall crumbled, Haruka spun around and thrust her hands towards Sasuke; seal pointed at him and released it. The effect was immediate, as soon as the seal was released, a stream of kunai began shooting out from within and all of them were aimed at Sasuke. Sasuke began dodging the flying knives but the stream kept on following him as Haruka turned her body to correct her aim. When the kunai ran out, Haruka used her chakra to spin the scroll until the next seal was visible and released that one too. The assault continued for several minutes and all spectators looked on in awe including Zare because he realised Haruka had done the most interesting thing ever, she had turned a simple storage scroll into a Gatling Gun.

Sasuke was currently having slight trouble with his opponent since the ferocity of her attack made it difficult to perform a Jutsu while dodging the hailstorm of kunai at the same time.

Eventually Haruka ran out of sealing sets and was forced to arm herself with a kunai from her weapon pouch and went into an offensive stance, Sasuke however stopped and faced her then began performing a series of hand seals but was cut short when his senses detected a kunai and dodged it while completing the seal and yelling out, "Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu" as several small fireballs shot out of his mouth towards Haruka. Normally one would expect her to dodge, but Haruka simply stayed where she was. Many of the Jounins and candidates thought she was an idiot for not even trying to dodge, but were thoroughly surprised when the fireballs exploded prematurely resulting in no harm to the green haired kunoichi.

"What just happened?" Kiba asked as he looked to his sensei.

"I'm not sure" Yuuhi Kurenai, Kiba's Jounin-sensei said, "From the look on Sasuke's face, it wasn't intentional and I know for a fact that Jutsus do not end prematurely, but that girl Haruka did not move so she couldn't have thrown a kunai"

Zare had heard all this, since he was on the same side of the room as them and smirked, "You know I could tell you, but the look your faces will take when you figure it out by yourself is just to juicy to pass up"

Sasuke, seemingly caught off guard by the premature end of his Jutsu, barely had time to react when a kunai came flying at him. Dodging the blade, Sasuke was forced to dodge again and again until he realised something, none of the kunai were coming from the direction Haruka was in. It was at the same time that several non-Uzu-Jounins realised this and Hayate said, "Will whoever is interfering in this match, please stop otherwise you and your team will be disqualified!" while Sasuke thought, "Shit I forgot about her Kekkei Genkai"

Several of the Genins began murmuring amongst themselves before Zare spoke up and said, "Proctor-san I assure there is no interference from a third party, please continue with the match"

The Genins continued muttering while the Uzu-nins gave a knowing smirk, although it was more of a gentle smile in Suzume's case.

"I think I got it" Shikamaru said and was about to speak but Zare cut him off and beckoned him towards him and had the Nara boy whisper in his ear.

"Close, but not close enough. Anyway it doesn't matter anymore because Haruka is starting to get serious" Zare said and sure enough Haruka began slowly walking towards Sasuke.

As she made her way forward, she threw her hands out to her side and two kunai flew into her hands surprising everyone before throwing them at Sasuke.

"How did she do that?" Ino asked to no one in particular.

"NINJA WIRE" someone yelled out and when everyone looked they saw it as Tenten to which Haruka turned to her and said, "I should slap you!" then folded her arms before four kunai dislodged themselves from the ground and flew over the Haruka, floating around her head.

"How the hell is she doing that!" Kankuro yelled out in annoyance.

Suddenly Shikamaru's eyes widened in realisation as he said two words, "Kekkei Genkai"

"Bingo" Zare said and as if on cue, every kunai lifted themselves from the ground and began flying above Haruka's head in a storm of utter chaos, "Yurei-shu, the power to move objects with one's mind"

Sasuke looked on in shock and horror as his eyes spun into the Sharingan and bore witness to the sight in front of him. Suddenly a stream of kunai broke away from the whole and flew right towards him. Sasuke dodged the flurry of blades, but had little time to react when three more streams broke off and flew right at him. It was at this point that Sasuke had to make a decision, try and dodge normally but risk serious injury or dodge using a Jutsu he just didn't want to show people that had yet to earn the trust of his family. Sadly that was not to be as at the last moment, Sasuke used the Hiraishin to evade completely.

Everyone including the Hokage looked on in surprise at Sasuke's sudden disappearance, but only the Hokage knew what had truly happened. Hiruzen glanced at Zare and saw the shit-eating-grin on his face, that man was having the time of his life watching everyone's expressions of shock and surprise.

Suddenly everyone's attention was turned to the ceiling when they heard Sasuke call out, "Katon: Goryuka no Jutsu!" as a massive dragon of flames flew out of Sasuke's mouth headed straight for Haruka. Haruka retaliated by sending all the floating kunai at the flaming dragon and watched as the two streams collided.

After a while both attacks ended as Sasuke ended the Jutsu while Haruka ran out of kunai since the Jutsu had melted all of them. Sasuke then dropped to the ground and performed another series of hand seals and called out, "Katon: Karyu Endan!" before a flamethrower like stream of deep yellow flames erupted from his mouth. Haruka simply stood her ground and held her hand out. As the flames approached, everyone watched with stunned expressions as the river of fire exploded with the sounds of impact even though there were no obstacles to speak of. Those who had a proper view saw the flames splaying out over an invisible surface while Haruka still had her hand pointing at the flames and had her face scrunched in concentration.

"Impressive" Zare said as everyone turned to look at him, "Her command over her abilities has definitely improved over the past month. If Ryuji and Suzume have progressed as well as her then I may just end up training you and Haku after all, Zabuza"

"I look forward to it" Zabuza replied.

"Just remember, my regiment is very strict, but the fruit it bears is unparalleled. You have seen Naruto and Sasuke in combat, have you not?" Zare asked.

"I have personally fought against both of them and witnessed their skills" Zabuza replied.

"It took me seven years to bring them up to that level of skill and I started from scratch" Zare said as Zabuza's eyes widened, "Imagine what I could do with two experienced Jounin such as Haku and yourself"

Suddenly a cry of pain was heard causing everyone to turn towards battle and see Sasuke end his technique while Haruka fell to the floor, clutching her head in pain before passing out.

"Winner! Uzumaki Sasuke!" Hayate said as both Minatsu and Zabuza Shunshined to the girl's side.

"I'll take it from here, Minatsu-sama" Zabuza as he lifted the unconscious girl in his arms.

"Are you sure? Her nose is bleeding" Minatsu said.

"It's nothing to worry about, she just over strained her mind. A couple of Aspirins and a good night's rest and she'll be right as rain" Zabuza replied.

"You better be sure of it, otherwise you're in hot water" Minatsu said.

"I'll try not to fall off the deep end" Zabuza replied.

"Enough with the Hydro-linguistics and stop hitting on my potential student, Mina-chan" Zare said, clearly miffed.

"Oh Zare-kun, you know how much I love the night's festivities after letting you fester with jealousy" Minatsu said with a playful smirk.

Zare was taken aback by Minatsu's rather bold proclamation and failed miserably at concealing his reddening cheeks while several Jounins snickered into their palms.

"What's she talking about?" Naruto asked with true cluelessness.

"N-n-nothing" Zare stammered.

"If you two are planning to have another baby, then I want a brother. At least then I'll have a slave to order around, the two you brought me are completely useless" Akiba said.

"Excuse me?" Zare said before mulling the statement over in his head and snorting in amusement.

The next match was Aburame Shino against Abumi Zaku, one of the Oto-nins that had attacked Naruto, Sasuke and Akiba in the Forest of Death. The match was fairly entertaining until Zaku's arms were almost torn off as the tubes in his arms exploded due to pressure caused by Shino's Kikaichu blocking the openings. After a detailed scan, Minatsu deemed the injuries as non-life threatening and had him sent off to the hospital.

The next match was Kankuro versus Tsurugi Misumi and was both mildly disturbing as well as pathetic seeing as how Misumi could dislocate his joints and still move, which even put Zare off, and the match did not last very long at all resulting an Kankuro being the winner.

As the screen spun through names again everyone waited in anticipation until they stopped.

HANAFUDA SUZUME vs. YAMANAKA INO

As Suzume made her way to the stairs, Zare decided to give the shy girl a bit of advice and with a warm smile said, "Suzume-chan, remember 'A strong soul resides within a strong mind and strong body' if any part of you, both mentally or physically, falters, brews a recipe for defeat. Take my words to heart and forge your path to success"

"Hai Makizaki-sama" Suzume said before smiling, bowing and making her way to the stairs.

"Good luck, Suzume-chan" Naruto said.

"Take her out with a bang" Sasuke said.

"Make it flashy" Akiba said.

When Suzume and Ino entered the arena, the purple haired kunoichi performed the traditional bow which was reciprocated rather awkwardly by the young Yamanaka.

After a few moments Hayate raised his hand and brought it down yelling, "Start"

Before Ino could react, there was a loud bang followed by a small object whizzing past her head, cutting a few sparse hairs. When Ino realised what had happened, she saw Suzume pointing a handgun with a slight purple tint to the metal at her, the barrel uttering a soft wisp of smoke, while her other hand held another gun.

"Handguns as a ninja weapon?" Hiruzen asked with intrigue.

"Why not?" Kushina said, "It may be western weaponry but it's a weapon none the less. One simply needs to master it and apply a combat style and you've got yourself a very dangerous ninja"

"Interesting" Hiruzen said as he stroked his chin, "It seems that the Uzugakure we know of is vastly different than the true side of things"

"A ninja is meant to be a master of deception" Kushina said, "It's always a treat to see the look on people's faces when they lay eyes on Uzugakure for the first time, since it is vastly different than what they expect"

"Would you care to explain, Uzukage-sama?" Hiruzen asked.

"Well I could, but it has been a very long time since Konohagakure and Uzugakure have shared a solid alliance that was viewed as beneficial to both sides and in light of recent events, there really has not been much effort from either side to say otherwise, don't you think" Kushina said with a heart warming smile but the deadly undertones in her voice were as obvious as a slap to the face.

Hiruzen raised an eye brow at the comment before turning back towards the match and seeing a very unusual sight, Ino was on the ground seemingly unconscious while Suzume had her head hung low and was slowly getting up. When she had stood up, she began raising her left arm and turned to speak to the proctor.

"I wish to-" Suzume started but stopped when her right arm grabbed onto the left and began forcing it down.

"What are you doing?" Suzume cried out in a shrill like tone.

"No one forces me to do something I don't want to?" Suzume said in her traditional tone of voice.

"Sensei, what's going on?" Ryuji said with concern as he looked up at Zabuza.

"I-I'm not sure" Zabuza said, "I think it has something to do with that weird technique"

Once the hand had been lowered, Suzume grabbed onto her head and growled out, "Get out of my head"

"Ha!" Suzume said in the shrill tone, "As if, once you get caught in the grasp of the Shintenshin, there is no escape unless I either cancel the Jutsu or your body ceases to function, killing both of us"

"So you're saying, if I try to kill myself, you'll leave?" Suzume said normally.

"What!" shrill-Suzume said, "You wouldn't dare"

"Try me" normal-Suzume said then picked up her gun with her right hand and began raising it while pointing it to her head.

"Stop it" shrill-Suzume said while her left arm grabbed onto the right and tried to desperately to force the gun away, "How are you able to fight back?"

"How? Simple, you are weak. Your mind is weak, your body is weak thus your soul is weak. Like Makizaki-sama said, 'A strong soul resides within a strong mind and strong body'. If you devoted more of your time to your career as a ninja and less over your puppy-love for Sasuke-san, you may have been able to defeat me. Unfortunately for you this lecture came a bit too late, goodbye" normal-Suzume said as she placed the gun barrel at her temple.

"STOP!" shrill-Suzume shrieked before the sound of a gunshot was heard and Suzume collapsed.

The entire arena remained silent as the series of events sank into the minds of all who bore witness.

"Sh-she killed herself" Hinata uttered very softly before turning and burying her head in her sensei's stomach.

"I-Ino" Shikamaru said softly with disbelief, everyone else was stunned beyond believe, except of course the Uzu-nins excluding Naruto, Sasuke and Obito.

"Suzume-chan" Naruto said softly as his eyes began to tear until Akiba placed her hand on his shoulder and whispered in his ear, "She's not dead"

"What do you mean 'she's not dead'?" Naruto said with softness unbeknownst to him.

"Just watch" Zare said causing Naruto to look back at the arena and saw Suzume's body twitching slightly before she groaned and began sitting up.

"Suzume-chan!" Naruto called out while every non-Uzu-nin said, "WHAT THE HELL!"

"How is she still alive?" Kiba yelled.

"She just took a bullet to the head and now she's shaking it off like it was nothing" Shikamaru said incredulously.

"H-How?" Sasuke asked.

"Tentai Kokkaku" Zare said, "The Kekkei Genkai of the Hanafuda Clan. Essentially they are born with bones that are indestructible so a bullet to the head means nothing. It also helps knowing that for the entire duration of the Chunin Exams, Suzume was supplied with only rubber ammunition so as to not kill anyone in the process, but that doesn't make it any less dangerous. Unless you're a Hanafuda, even at point blank a rubber bullet can still kill you"

"YOSH! Her flames of youth burn more fiercely than the sun itself, right Gai-sensei?" Lee asked.

"Lee, no amount of flames of youth will ever be able to save you when you get shot through the head" Tenten replied.

Lee was about to reply, but was cut off when Ino suddenly shot up into a sitting position and began screaming hysterically.

Suzume clenched her eyes in pain with each shriek to escape the blonde banshee's mouth and after five minutes the normally shy Hanafuda had had enough.

"Shut! Up!" she growled as she slowly, almost staggeringly, pointed her gun at Ino and pulled the trigger. The chakra infused rubber bullet exploded out of the barrel and struck the hysteric Yamanaka dead centre of her stomach causing her to pass out.

"Winner: Hanafuda Suzume" Hayate called out much to the glee and cheers of the Uzu-candidates, that is until Suzume collapsed.

Immediately, Zare and Minatsu Shunshined to Suzume's and Ino's side respectively and checked them over.

"This girl is fine" Minatsu said, "Take her to the hospital and get her patched up. Though she may need some counselling afterwards" before the medic team took the blonde away.

"How is she?" Minatsu asked as she kneeled down next to Suzume and began checking her over.

"Her mind is somewhat chaotic, there is no sense of coherence what so ever, I think it may be due to the forced cancellation of that girl's Jutsu" Zare said.

Minatsu frowned for a minute before placing her glowing hand on the girl's forehead and examining her brain, "Her neural synapses are erratic, plus she's busted her ear drum. I think it was the forced cancellation combined with the gunshot that's short circuited her brain. Nothing I can't handle, but you will need to check on her mental integrity later on"

Minatsu then began the process of healing Suzume and continued to do so for ten minutes before she let out a deep sigh, wiped her brow and ordered the medical team to take Suzume to the hospital since she was now stable.

"I'll check on her tomorrow morning" Zare said, then turned to Hayate and said, "Suzume will have to be withdrawn from the Finals due to injury, it appears she has suffered a concussion and a ruptured eardrum"

When Hayate nodded in understanding Zare disappeared in a swirl of black smoke and reappeared next to his students while Minatsu made her way back to her sister's side.

"Is everything alright?" Akiba asked as Naruto, Sasuke and Ryuji gathered around Zare.

"She's fine" Zare said, "The gunshot busted her eardrum and caused a mild concussion while the forced cancellation of the Yamanaka's Jutsu caused the mental equivalent of whiplash. I'll perform a mental scan on her tomorrow morning. She might suffer minor dizzy spells while her ear heals but it shouldn't be a hindrance. However, I was forced to pull her out of the final matches"

The four teenagers breathed a sigh of relief at the news and turned to look at the screens and waited for the next fight to be announced.

The next match was Tenten against Temari with Tenten suffering a rather brutal defeat at the hands of the Suna kunoichi.

After that was Shikamaru against the Oto-nin, Akiba fought against in the forest, a kunoichi by the name of Kin, a rather annoying and snobbish girl. The battle was interesting to watch from a strategic stand point, but rather idiotic in its conclusion.

As the screens began rolling again anticipation was thick in the air as everyone waited.

INUZUKA KIBA vs. UZUMAKI AKIBA

"YOU ARE AN EVIL, EVIL PERSON" Akiba yelled while pointing an accusatory finger at Hayate, "HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME FIGHT SOMEONE WITH A CUTE LITTLE PUPPY!"

"Will you fight or will you forfeit?" Hayate asked bluntly.

"I'll fight" Akiba said with a huff as she crossed her arms, "But if that puppy gets hurt, I swear you will not have any lungs left to cough with"

"Aki-chan there is no point in arguing" Zare said.

"Hmph! I am not a happy bunny right now" Akiba said before she jumped over the rails and landed in the arena.

"So you don't want to fight me just cause I got a puppy?" Kiba said.

"A very cute puppy. Now please put Akamaru-chan down so he can sit on the side lines, I don't want him getting hurt" Akiba said.

"Heh, not a chance. Akamaru is my partner; we fight together" Kiba said, "And stop calling him cute"

"But he is cute" Akiba said with a pout.

"He is not cute" Kiba said with anger, "He is a fearsome warrior"

"Arr" Akamaru barked.

"See, he likes being called cute" Akiba said.

"What do you mean you like being called cute?" Kiba said to the dog before facing Akiba and saying, "You can understand him?"

"No, I just took a random guess. Now please put him down" Akiba said.

"Like I said, 'Not a chance'" Kiba replied.

"Seventh Battle, Start!" Hayate said as he brought his hand down.

"Alright Akamaru, let's show her how it's done!" Kiba said.

"Arr" Akamaru barked as he jumped out of Kiba's arms and charged at Akiba.

Then he leaped intending on head butting Akiba, but was caught by her as she twirled around, hugged him, kissed him on the head and tossed him right back.

"What did you do to him?" Kiba asked inquisitively.

"Arr, arr" Akamaru barked.

"YOU KISSED HIM!" Kiba yelled.

"What can I say? Akamaru-chan is adorable" Akiba replied.

"HE IS NOT ADORABLE!" Kiba roared then leapt into a lateral spin while calling out, "Tsuga!" causing him to turn into a lateral tornado and charge at Akiba, but was easily side stepped by the young Uzumaki.

"Aki-chan really likes cute things doesn't she?" Naruto asked as he watched Akiba dodge Tsuga after Tsuga with relative ease.

"Yes, but I still don't understand what she sees in that vile creature over there" Umbrea said as she leapt onto the railing in the form of a two tailed cat.

"Umbrea! Where did you come from?" Naruto asked.

"There is only one place where I can come from, you twit" Umbrea said as she swatted Naruto over the head.

"Hey Umbrea, what's up?" Zare asked.

"Nothing much, Byakko is getting bored, Byakuei is testy as usual, I beat Seiryu at Shogi so he's not too pleased about that, Genbu's snoring has reached deafening levels and Suzaku has been preening herself for the past hour, so far there's enough feathers to fill a pillow. Being cooped up in a hotel room is far beneath sovereign beings such as us" Umbrea said.

"Hmm" Zare said as he went into thought for a moment then called out, "Hokage-sama, may I have you permission to call forth my summons, they seem to be getting a little testy back in the hotel. I promise they will not interfere in any of the matches, merely observe"

"I don't see the problem in that, do you Uzukage-sama?" Hiruzen said.

"Not at all" Kushina replied.

"Thank you" Zare said then proceeded to cut all ten of his fingers, performed several hand seals and called out, "Grand Summons: Five Beast Kings" then slammed both hand on the floor as the sounds of five successful summons filled the air shortly after.

"I'm telling you she cheated" Seiryu said.

"Oh can't you accept a defeat and be done with it" Umbrea said.

"Umbrea-hime!" Seiryu said with surprise.

"What are we doing here?" Genbu asked.

"I felt you guys might have been a bit bored so it thought I might provide you with a bit of entertainment" Zare said, "Right now Aki-chan is fighting"

"Well this could be interesting" Suzaku said as she perched herself on the railing while Seiryu simply hovered and the remaining three looked through the bars of the banister. Zare, on the other hand, gazed across the hall and made brief eye contact with the Oto-Jounin, who simply broke the gaze and left.

"This is getting boring" Akiba said as she dodged her umpteenth Tsuga then took out her summoning gloves and called forth her battle hammer.

As Kiba performed another Tsuga, Akiba held her hammer at the ready and charged the back end with fire chakra. When Kiba came close enough, Akiba swung the hammer as hard she could then just before impact, exploded the fire chakra, smashing the face of the hammer right into the oncoming attack, nullifying it and throwing Kiba back to where Akamaru was.

"Did she just deflect Kiba's Tsuga?" Choji asked.

"More like nullify" Kurenai said while at the same time thought, "These ninjas from Uzu, they are far more than what we expected. Kiba better be careful"

"I don't know how you did that, but you won't get lucky next time. Akamaru, let's do it" Kiba said then threw a Soldier Pill at Akamaru before consuming one himself.

Kiba's expressions turned more feral as a blue aura of chakra flared around him while Akamaru's fur turned blood red then jumped onto Kiba's back and transformed into an exact replica of his master.

Akiba simple snorted in amusement then got herself in an attack position, flared her own chakra and said two words, "Bring it"

"Gatsuga!" Kiba yelled as both he and Akamaru spun into dual tornados and charged at Akiba.

"Kage Bunshin" Akiba said as a clone appeared and both of the smashed their hammers into the two tornados changing their directions, but Kiba and Akamaru were able to correct their course and charged at Akiba again.

This continued for several more attempts and each time Akiba and her clone deflected the oncoming attacks.

"Monotonous" Akiba said and decided to finish the fight once and for all. Charging her hammer with fire chakra, Akiba smashed one of the Kibas out of their attack while the clone deflected the other one before throwing a few kunai with explosive tags attached to break the attack and flung Kiba into a wall knocking him out.

Suddenly blue streaks appeared in Akiba's hair as she took a vial from her pouch and cracked it in her hand. The liquid, a green colour, began floating in Akiba's palm before she passed her other hand over it and split it in two.

Zare smirked as she watched Akiba go in for a finisher, running up to the other Kiba, Akiba jumped and performed several foot stomps to Kiba's stomach before kicking him in the face, then kicked him again as she brought her foot back down. As Akiba dropped to the ground, Kiba tried to do a side sweep punch to Akiba, but she ducked and spun counter-clockwise then used her momentum to perform a palm thrust to Kiba's stomach causing a thin green mist to form around the impact site. As Kiba staggered back, Akiba rose to her feet and slapped him across the face with her other hand, releasing more green mist and went into a clockwise spin while dropping to the ground and ended it with a double fist punch to the stomach and chest, sending Kiba flying into a wall and collapsed onto the ground before transforming back into Akamaru.

Seeing this, Akiba immediately called a time out and said, "Someone get him out of here, he's been poisoned"

"Bring him to me" Minatsu said as the medics appeared, "Only I know the antidote"

Once the whimpering, and quivering puppy was brought before her, Minatsu looked at Akiba and said, "Which one did you use?"

"B-52, 22 micrograms" Akiba said causing Minatsu to nod in acknowledgment and start the treatment.

After a few moments Akiba heard Kiba begin to rouse and turned her attention to him.

"Akamaru?" Kiba asked as he looked around, still in a daze, "Where's Akamaru?"

Kiba continued to look for his friend until he heard a soft whimper and saw him being treated by Minatsu.

"AKAMARU!" Kiba yelled then glared at Akiba.

"What did you do to him?" the Inuzuka growled out.

"Oh you are not trying to pin this on me" Akiba said as the blue streaks were replaced by red ones and smoke began to emerge from the sides of her mouth.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?" Kiba yelled.

"I told you not to bring him into the fight, but did you listen to me noooo. Now because of your stupidity, I was forced to retaliate and got Akamaru poisoned" Akiba yelled out as she stomped over to Kiba while pillars of flames erupted from the ground.

Several Jounins, thinking it was Genjutsu, tried to dispel it but were thoroughly taken aback when nothing happened.

"This isn't a Genjutsu!" Kurenai said with surprise.

"Of course not" Zare said.

"But that's impossible, a Genin shouldn't be able to perform a Jutsu like, let alone have the chakra requirements and she didn't even use hand signs" Asuma said.

"What are you blathering on about? Who said anything about chakra being involved?" Zare said as if it was the most absurd thing he had ever heard.

"Oh don't tell me this is another Kekkei Genkai" Shikamaru said.

"Ok I won't" Zare said as he leaned on the railing, held out his palm and a fireball, water ball and lightning ball began swirling around in his palm while streaks of red blue and yellow appeared in his hair then smirked.

Everyone was so captivated by the sight in Zare's palm that they were quite startled when they heard a terrified Inuzuka yell out, "I FORFEIT"

"Winner Uzumaki Akiba!" Hayate yelled out

Immediately the flaming pillars vanished as Akiba's hair returned to normal as she said, "Tch! Your no fun" then walked over to the side of the arena where her team was and jumped back onto the observation deck.

"Yay! Aki-chan!" Naruto called out as Akiba landed on the deck.

"Congrats Aki-chan" Zare said with pride, "Your mastery of the Genshi no Tamashi is getting better. I may just have to step it up and start you on Ascension Training"

"Really!" Akiba said with excitement.

"Of course" Zare said, "After we get back home, if you can pull water from a locked source, I'll start you on the advanced training"

"Thank you!" Akiba squealed as she hugged her father.

The next match was a surprising match up and pit two family members against each other, but what disgusted the Uzugakure contingent was the sheer one-sided hostility of it all. Each strike of Hyuuga Neji was filled with anger and hate, even more so when the timid Hinata refused to back down due to Naruto's encouragement. The end result, an enraged Hyuuga attempting to land a killing blow on his cousin, was forced to back down when Hayate, Kurenai and Maito Gai, Neji's sensei, stepped in to restrain him, even Obito joined in and held a firm grip on the boys arm.

"Forgive me for my interference, Hokage-sama, but my own morals forbade me from turning a blind eye to this reckless display of hatred" Obito said.

"T'is not a problem Obito-dono, as much as it pains me knowing that a foreign party had to look upon one of Konoha's darker blemishes, it doesn't alleviate the fact that conflict within a clan is ever present" Hiruzen said. It was at that point that Hinata succumbed to her injuries.

Shunshining to the girls side, Minatsu quickly began performing a medical scan on the girl before her expression turned to one of worry and said, "She's going into cardiac arrest, Zare-kun I need your help"

Jumping over the railing, Zare rushed over to the girl's side just as the other medic Nins finished hooking up the monitoring equipment.

"Zare-kun, you get to work restarting her heart, I'll get to work on removing the blood flooding her organs" Minatsu said before turning her attention to the medic Nin and said, "Once I've removed the blood, you get to work on sealing the rupture"

Once the medic voiced his acknowledgment, they got to work. Tearing the girl's shirt open, Zare placed his index and middle finger of his right hand over the girl's heart and placed the index and middle of his other han on the side of the abdomen. Charging his fingers with lightning chakra, Zare said one word causing Minatsu to back off while the medic followed in response, "Clear"

The girls back arched as pulses of electricity burst through her system in an attempt to revive her heart.

"Status?" Zare said as Minatsu and the medic got back to work.

"Still in V-fib" Minatsu said as she glanced at the heart monitor.

Gathering slightly more lightning chakra this time round Zare yelled, "Clear" before releasing another torrent of shocks onto the young girl's body.

"We have a pulse" Minatsu said as she glanced at the monitor.

"Excellent, I'll get to work on healing her lungs while you get her stable enough to be moved to the hospital" Zare said as his hands took on a dark green glow and began sealing the ruptures in Hinata's lungs.

After about twenty minutes, all three of them breathed a heavy sigh.

"She's in the clear; you can take her to the hospital now" Minatsu said before Hinata was loaded onto a stretcher and carried out.

Once the girl was gone, Minatsu took on a fierce expression before marching up to Neji and slapping him across the face.

"I SHOULD TEAR YOUR HEART OUT SINCE YOU CLEARLY DON'T NEED IT!" Minatsu yelled before returning to Kushina's side.

By now Zare had returned to the viewing platform and mused, "Ah, my wife can be such a gem"

The next match had Gaara fighting against Rock Lee and was very interesting to watch, especially for Zare who observed the entire match with his Mukogan. Unfortunately Zare 'forgot' to mask his eyes so everyone who had never seen those eyes before got a lovely surprise.

"Whoa, so that's what Makizaki-sama's Mukogan looks like" Ryuji said with complete awe.

"Hmm" Zabuza said as he followed his student's gaze and looked upon the Void Eyes before falling over in surprise and emitting a loud and audible, "WAH!"

"What has gotten into you man?" Zare said, "First you get hit on by my wife, now you freak out at my Dojutsu? I thought you used to be an A-Rank missing Nin"

"Nah, it's just, I heard about those eyes. I just never thought they would look so..."

"So what, empty? They are called Void Eyes for a reason you know" Zare said as he helped the man up.

"So what do they do?" Zabuza asked.

Zare grinned playfully, "I'd love to tell you, but not in current company. Let's just say they give me information"

"Hey don't you think you should stop this fight? It's getting pretty brutal" Haruka said, she had woken up sometime during the match and had quite the nasty head ache, but after a two aspirins she was feeling much better.

"I'm afraid not" Zare said, "If it were one of our own then we would"

"A darker reason for these fights is to ease tension between the various villages, hence why it is acceptable to kill during these matches" Asuma said.

"But that's just stupid, I can understand the need to kill while on a mission, trust me I would know, but killing someone from a village that may or may not have wronged your village in the past during a 'Friendly Competition' just to give yourself some kind of sick, false sense of satisfaction is the same as cold blooded murder. If this is what is required of me to make Chunin then I'd rather throw it back in their faces instead of accepting it with blood covered hands" Haruka said.

"A magnificent monologue my dear, but you have to realise that while it may not be the norm for us it is the norm for others and we as human beings must respect that. However, that doesn't mean you give in to their ideals or force your own onto other, at the end of the day it is your own decision whether you end a person's life or not" Zare said.

"I still think it's stupid and a waste of perfectly good ninja" Haruka said.

"As do I, unfortunately the world is not all strawberries and cream, there are many aspects that we wish were not there but have to learn to live with" Zare said.

Haruka simply gave a sigh of resignation and continued turned to watch the next match start.

This match was interesting to watch, from the Akimichi Body Modification Technique to the Oto-nins use of sound to cause internal damage to the body, but it still wasn't what many would call impressive.

"Well now that we have one match left, will the combatants please enter the arena?" Hayate said.

Once the two Genins were ready Hayate said, "Final match, Sakai Ryuji vs. Uzumaki Naruto. START!"

Immediately the two boys put some distance between themselves and stared each other down.

"Naruto-sama" Ryuji said soothingly while he glared at Naruto, "As much as I love you in a totally innocent, non-homo kinda way"

"YA COULD'A FOOLED US!" Akiba yelled.

Ryuji simply looked over his shoulder and sneered to which Akiba replied, "Honestly, kids these days, no respect" as she threw her arms up in defeat.

"Enough with the running commentary!" Ryuji called out, "Thank you"

"Now like I was saying" Ryuji continued, "I would recommend you forfeit now, so as to spare you a painful and humiliating defeat"

"Ryuji" Naruto said, "As the only member of my ridiculous fan club that I can actually tolerate since I am just that awesome, you should be well aware that unless you can carry out your threats, there is very little that will make me submit"

"Very well" Ryuji said as he took out a pair of knuckle dusters and put them on, "Better bite down on something cause this is gonna hurt"

"Bring it, bitch" Naruto said as summoned a simple sword.

"NARUTO!" Kushina chastised, but it fell on deaf ears as the two of them had already engaged in battle.

As Naruto went for a lateral slash, Ryuji displayed a remarkable level of flexibility by dropping to his knees and bending over backwards. Then in retaliation he threw one leg up, kicking Naruto in the chin before flipping backwards onto his hands and performed a spinning split kick sending Naruto flying backwards who promptly blew up in a puff of smoke.

"Kage Bunshin huh" Ryuji said before performing several hand signs and leapt into the air just as Naruto burst out from the ground in an attempt to grab him.

Taking a deep breath, Ryuji exhaled while in mid-air as he called out, "Kirigakure no Jutsu" resulting in a thick fog covering the arena.

"Damn it Zabuza, why did you teach him that? Now I can't watch Naruto get owned" Sasuke said.

"Meh, seemed like a good idea at the time" Zabuza shrugged.

"I don't know whether to praise you or slap you upside the head" Zare said.

Within the fog Naruto was frantically trying to find his opponent, the fog was so heavily saturated with chakra that it interfered with his Uzumaki Dairokkan, rendering him essentially blind. This lack of sense proved fatal as a few seconds later, Naruto felt the cold blade of a kunai pressed up against his neck.

"Heh, not quite what you were expecting, was it, Naruto-sama" Ryuji said.

"Nope, but neither is this" Naruto said before a voice from above yelled out, "Futon: Daitoppa!" as a massive wave of wind crashed into the ground, blowing the fog away, tossing Ryuji aside and dispelling the clone of Naruto.

"You taught him silent killing didn't you" Zare said.

"Like I said, seemed like a good idea" Zabuza replied, "Besides the kid's got a knack for it"

"Works for me" Zare said.

By then Naruto had dropped to the ground and was dashing towards Ryuji, sword at the ready. As soon as Naruto reached, he made an attempt to cut his opponent down, but was prevented from doing so when his sword met resistance. Naruto looked at the supposed impact site and saw his sword against an invisible, rippling layer of air.

Ryuji smirked and said, "Forgot about that didn't you?" before the rippling increased and a high pitched tone filled their ears and to Naruto's horror, his sword started to crack, before shattering like glass.

Zare watched the battle with interest until he heard a loud repetitive thump and looked to see Shikamaru banging his head on the railing.

"You might want to ease up on the head banging there, Shikamaru-san, I'm pretty sure people will be none too happy about the Nara heir turning himself into a vegetable"

"Why do you have so many Kekkei Genkai on one team?" the boy asked.

"Why not? Since their final year in the academy, we saw that they worked well together and their abilities complement each other" Zare said.

"But that's over kill" Kiba said.

"What you call over kill, we call balancing. In their final year, we have our students perform D-Rank missions twice a week and each time the teams are changed. It gives us a larger workforce for more mundane tasks and lets us see who works well with whom. That way, when the teams are decided, we can set it up such that everyone complements each other. Besides, this year we have a team comprised only of Uzumaki, now that's over kill" Zare said.

Turning back to the match, they saw Naruto flip back several times and call out, "Gutai Ka: Seinaru Kaze" and summoned a silvery-grey katana, with a blue hue to the blade.

"Oh, finally deciding to come after me with a real sword instead of that butter knife, eh Naruto-sama" Ryuji taunted before dashing forward and attempted a downward punch as Naruto dodged backwards while the ground cratered slightly under the force of the punch. Ryuji then swung his entire body, using his arm as a pivot, and kicked Naruto in the face twice before flipping back onto his feet and dashing forward then planted a hard fist in Naruto's stomach, smashing the blond into the ground.

"Heh, heh, had enough?" Ryuji said with a smirk which died the instant Naruto blew up in a puff of smoke.

"What the hell is with you and that damn Kage Bunshin fetish? It's really starting to get annoying!" Ryuji yelled in annoyance.

"Awww, is Ryuji-kun jealous?" Naruto said, voice coming from above.

"I'll show you jealous" Ryuji said before flashing though several hand seals and placing both hands out in front of him, palms facing outwards, until a soft ripple was seen. Then Ryuji jumped into the air and started running up an invisible wall.

Zare burst out laughter at everyone's very vocal freak out.

"Oh, this is such a treat. Never, in all my years, would I have found an examination this enjoyable" Zare said as he wiped a tear from his eye.

"Did they even have them in your time?" Zabuza asked.

"Sadly they did. Horrifying experiences to say the least" Zare said.

"So you finally learned to run up your barriers, eh Ryuji" Naruto said before pushing of the ceiling and meeting Ryuji halfway. The duo crashed into each other creating a shockwave before they broke off and fell the ground.

As soon as they touched down, they went at it like berserkers. They each threw their most powerful punches and sword strikes in an attempt to overpower the other.

After half an hour of constant fighting the two of them leapt back, breathing heavily.

"Hey, you've become really strong since we last fought" Naruto said between pants, "and you've become really good at using your Oni Kabe"

"The same goes for you, Naruto-sama" Ryuji said while breathing heavily.

"I don't think either of us can last much longer, so why don't we go all out on this next attack" Naruto said.

"Sure, what do you have in mind" Ryuji said.

"Let's each do our most powerful attack, last one standing wins" Naruto said.

"Only if we make it flashy" Ryuji said.

"You're on" Naruto said then summoned a clone and held out a hand while pumping large amounts of chakra into it as the clone began performing palm thrusts to a space just over the palm.

Ryuji, on the other hand, flashed through several hand signs, and then blew out a massive stream of fire while performing another set of hand seals at the same time. As the bluenet continued to spout, stream after stream of fire, the fireball refused to grow, instead it shrank while growing brighter in intensity. After a while the two boys stared each other down, each with their most powerful Jutsu in the palm of their hands, Naruto with a rapidly swirling ball of blue chakra and Ryuji with a large ball of white hot fire, glowing with the intensity of the Sun.

"Ready?" Naruto asked.

"As I'll ever be" Ryuji replied before they charged.

When they neared each other, they both reared their hands back and called out their attacks before slamming them into each other.

"RASENGAN!" Naruto yelled as Ryuji called out, "TAIYO ENDAN!"

The two spheres of energy shook violently against each other for several seconds before a bright flash of light filled the hall, blinding everyone followed by a huge explosion rocking the entire building.

Once everyone was able to see again, their eyes took in the carnage and gasped. The arena had been completely destroyed, in its place a massive crater and two charred figures on either side.

After a few moments, one of them began to stir and slowly if not agonisingly managed to get to his feet, while the other lay unconscious on the ground

"Winner" Hayate said as he noticed the lone figure get to his feet, "Uzumaki Naruto!"

The entire hall stayed silent for several moments before Akiba broke the peace by saying, "He won"

"What?" Sasuke said.

"He won" Akiba replied.

"He won?... OH MY GOD HE WON!" Sasuke yelled as he jumped into Akiba's arms and the two of them jumped in excitement over Naruto's success.

"HE WON! MY BABY WON!" Kushina exclaimed as she grabbed onto Obito and began spinning around in joy, she would have grabbed onto Minatsu but she had left Rock Lee to tend to his injuries.

Zare wiped a pride filled tear from his eye before both he and Zabuza jumped down into the crater and went to their respective students.

"Heh, heh, told ya I'd win" Naruto said through a strained voice, before his legs gave out and fell into Zare's embrace.

"You did well, Naru" Zare said as he cradled Naruto in his arms, "You make me proud as both a teacher and an uncle"

"Thanks" Naruto said with a weak smile.

"Now let's go get you patched up" Zare said as he turned to leave, but was interrupted by Naruto who said, "Wait, I wanna talk to Ryuji"

Zare smiled then caught Zabuza's attention and called him over.

"Hey Ryuji" Naruto said weakly.

"Hey Naruto-sama" Ryuji replied in the same weakened tone while Zabuza carried him.

"That was some fight, huh?" Naruto said.

"Yeah it sure was. I really thought I had you, but I guess I wasn't strong enough" Ryuji said.

"Nah, your plenty strong, I really thought I was gonna lose at the end" Naruto replied.

"Heh, heh, you don't need to lie to me like that" Ryuji said.

"No I mean it, what kind of best friend would I be if I said things like that and didn't mean it?" Naruto said as he cracked his signature smile.

"Best...friend?" Ryuji said with confusion.

"Yeah, your my best friend" Naruto said as he held out his hand.

Ryuji chuckled weakly as he sniffed back a tear and took Naruto's hand in his own.

Zare and Zabuza looked at the exchange with a smile until they realised that both boys had passed out, still holding hands.

"Well this is awkward" Zare said.

"Your right. Now how do we pry our boys apart?" Zabuza asked.

"Ah, leave 'em" Zare said then turned to the Hokage, "Hokage-sama, do you mind if I leave a clone to gather information about the third exam while I take the boys to the hospital?"

"Not at all" Hiruzen said with smile and watched as they disappeared in large back blur.

"Oh this could be the beginning of such a beautiful Bromance, those two make such a cute couple" Akiba said causing Haruka to laugh.

"You do know that both of them are straight as arrows, right?" Sasuke said.

"There's still time to set the proper gears" Akiba said mischievously.

"God, you're such a Yaoi Fanatic" Sasuke said.

"I know isn't it delicious" Akiba said

"Ew" Sasuke replied and turned his attention back to what the Hokage was saying.

Once the two boys had been handed over to the hospital staff, Zare had Zabuza meet him on the hospital roof saying that it was urgent.

"Zabuza, I have a mission for you" Zare said with a serious tone.

"What is it, Zare-sama?" Zabuza asked.

"Do you know of a man called Orochimaru?" Zare asked.

"Who hasn't? Orochimaru was one of Konoha's Sannin the strongest team of ninjas to ever grace this planet, but he turned traitor didn't he?" Zabuza said.

"Yes he did, but unfortunately he has returned and has set his eyes on Sasuke" Zare said in a solemn tone.

"Why?"

"My guess, to get his hands on the Sharingan. The man was obsessed with Jutsus and the Sharingan's ability to copy Jutsus has no doubt tickled his fancy, but that's not all that has me worried" Zare said, "He was there during the preliminary matches and I'm afraid he may have set his eyes on more than just Sasuke. The Kekkei Genkais of Uzugakure are amongst the strongest the world has to offer, especially when it comes to our students as such I am assigning you to Kushina's guard detail and having you and your students stay in Konoha so I can keep a watchful eye. When I get back to the hotel, I'll check you and your students out of your hotel and checked into ours. You will stay with the guards while Ryuji, Suzume and Haruka will stay with us. It works out fine since we have an extra room the boys can stay in while the girls stay in the other and with our summons staying with us, no one would dare try anything"

"I understand Zare-sama" Zabuza said, "What should I tell the kids?"

"Tell them it's a reward from me for all their hard work. For the next month, I'll take over their training" Zare said and watched Zabuza turn to leave, "Oh and Zabuza" Zabuza turned to listen, "That's Zare-sensei to you"

Zare chuckled at the man's shocked expression then disappeared in a puff of black mist.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**Greetings and Salutations once again. Ok so I have more to talk about here. First I want to apologise to all who found this chapter far too long, even I'm unhappy as I find 12,000 words a bit much, I really couldn't split this chapter evenly without either unbalancing the chapters or not having a proper word count so I left it as it is, I promise not to do it again as it is horribly taxing when I go over them for errors and such. Now onto more important matters.**

** I really want to know what you guys think of the three new Uzu-OCs, I know they were introduced in Chapter 11, but I really want to know what you think about them. Originally they were supposed to be one time only minor characters where it would be mentioned they they would taken under wing by Zabuza, fail either the second exam or the prelims and that would be that, but after giving them names and imagining an amazing fight scene with them plus Naruto and Akiba, I absolutely had to keep them. Plus even though I kept telling you about the 'Lovely Vacation in the Land of Tea' I decided to forgo it. Why? Simply because I got mixed up. At first I thought the Tsunade retrieval was in the Land of Tea, but I was horribly mistaken, instead what ever sub-events that I had planned for the Land of Tea will take place either before or after the Final Matches/Oto-Suna Invasion so look forward to some lovely comedy as well as the happy surprise I have in Store for my Meager Puppets, MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (*ahem* sorry)**

**Important Notice: I won't be updating this story until after June 9th, I have Exams coming up and need to study, I'll try to put some time into the chapters here and there, but don't expect an update until after the 9th of June (that's when my exams end)**

******Jutsu-Jutsu no Jutsu**

**Taira: Kokuyoseki no Yuwaku - Flatten: Obsidian Seduction. Akiba's Battle Hammer for those of you who want a better idea of what it looks like think of Lavi's Hammer from D. Gray-Man.**

**Tatsu: Kuro Yoake - Sever: Black Dawn - Naru's Dual wield Katanas**

**Kari to Hakai: Akuma no Kiba - Hunt and Destroy: Demon Fangs Sasu's Chain Scythe**

**Doton: Doro Dama - Mud Sphere, a basic jutsu that turns the ground into a blob of mud that can be flung at an opponent**

**Katon: Hoka Tsuchi - Fire Hammer, an explosive hammer attack where fire chakra adds explosive force behind a hammer strike.**

**Ryusei Bakudan - Meteor Bomb, Collaboration Jutsu, looks like a meteor too. Makes a lovely boom.**

**Suiton: Suiryoku Raikan - Hydro Detonator, Akiba's Double hammer strike combined with water chakra.**

**Katon: Gyokakyu no Jutsu - Do I really need to explain this one?**

**Doton: Doroko Gaeshi - Earth Shore Return, Jirobo used it during the sasuke retreival**

**Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu - Phoenix Fire 'nough said.**

**Yurei-Shu - Ghost Hands, Its telekinesis pure and simple**

**Katon: Goryuka no Jutsu - Great Dragon Fire**

**Katon: Karyu Endan - Dragon Flame Missile **

**Tentai Kokkaku - Celestial Sleketon**

**Genshi no Tamashi - Primordial Soul, Kekkei Genkai of the Makizaki Clan. Gives the user control over fire, water and lighting without the need for chakra, those who have unlocked the final form of the kekkei genkai can control all three elements simultaneously and can even cast Simultaneous jutsus but cannot fuse them into the advanced elements. (This will be revealed in the coming chapters that cover the Oto/Suna Invasion)**

**Futon: Daitoppa - Great Breakthrough**

**Oni Kabe - Demon Wall, Kekkei Genkai of the Sakai Clan allows the user to create barriers with various effects**

**Taiyo Endan - Solar Fire Bomb, a technique where a Sakai Clan member compresses Fire Chakra with their Barrier ability and releases the pent up energy when at once causing a massive explosion.**

**Update 25/5/10**

**Greetings everyone, so just to let you know the next two chapters are coming along nicely chapter 14 is finished and chapter 15 is at about 95% I just need to finish this last fight scene and I can start the invasion in the next chapter. However, this is not why I have written this post. I have discovered two possible paths to take this story in and even though I can skip it and take the story where I had originally planned, I feel that if I were to throw this particular plot development into the mix it would add for a very interesting, probably challenging and somewhat fun turn of events. So here is the question, I shall have it posted as a poll later.**

**Should I bring Minato back to life after the Sandaime's fight with Orochimaru?**

**The process I have in mind to bring him back is a little vague for now, but I have a general idea and it will also provide some background for Umbrea.**

**So let me know what you think on this particular idea. **

**Enjoy**


	14. Hot Springs and Senile Toads

Chapter 14

It was a few days after the Preliminary Matches and Zare had decided to go for a walk around the village that morning. Naruto and Ryuji had made full recoveries after their match, but were being kept for an extra night for observation much to their protests.

Suzume was still being treated for her ruptures eardrum and had to undergo minor physiotherapy afterwards to recalibrate her sense of balance. Zare examined her psyche once she woke up and discovered a minor glitch that had been caused by the Shintenshin resulting in a minor tweak to her personality. She started becoming more open, less withdrawn and more confident. All in all it was a positive outcome.

Hinata was still unconscious as was still undergoing treatment to repair her heart as it had suffered the most damage.

Lee was by far the worst off. His crushed arm and leg had suffered so much damage that it was likely to end his ninja career, something he was very distraught over. However, Tsunade and Minatsu had spent countless hours scouring medical texts and records in order to find a solution that didn't result in the boy being permanently crippled. Minatsu had her summons, Haien, bring in several medical texts from Uzugakure, many of which were from western countries and contained radical forms of treatment that didn't require chakra. So it was quite a surprise for Zare to find Tsunade and Jiraiya sitting outside a cafe enjoying a light breakfast.

"May I join you?" Zare said as he approached.

"Oh! Zare-san, please do, please do, we were just about to come visit you and Kushina at the hotel" Jiraiya said as he gestured to the vacant seat.

"One latte and a chicken salad please" Zare said when the waitress arrived.

"Put it on my tab" Jiraiya said and held a hand up to prevent Zare from protesting.

"At once" the waitress said and left.

"So how goes the research?" Zare asked.

"Oh wonderful, got enough to write at least three books" Jiraiya said with a proud grin.

"I wasn't talking to you; you old pervert" Zare said with an amused smirk, "and if I ever hear you peeked on any of my lovely ladies, do be aware that even the Devil will take pity on your mutilated soul"

"Noted" Jiraiya said with a nervous chuckle.

Tsunade rolled her eyes as she took a sip of her tea then said, "We've made quite a bit of head way, but the chances of success are still far too low for our liking. The boy has a lot of drive and motivation and dearly wants to be a ninja so it would kill us if the boy's dream was shattered like that"

"I see" Zare said, "Well good luck on that, but that's not why I wanted to talk you about"

"Oh, and what is the true reason to which we owe the pleasure of your company?" Jiraiya asked.

"Cute, Jiraiya, very cute" Zare said, "What I wanted to know is why did you return to Konoha? The last I heard, the two of you wanted nothing to do with this place, at least you didn't Tsunade, I'm not sure about Sir Porn-for-brains here"

"Hey, I'll have you know I provide a great service to the masses" Jiraiya stated.

"Right~ that and you have an S&M fetish, which explains why you consistently return to the hot springs despite getting your ass handed to you on a silver platter by pissed off kunoichi" Zare said, "Just make sure you don't try that if you ever come to Uzugakure, otherwise I guarantee not even your toad summons will spare you from their and their summons' collective wraths"

Jiraiya paled at the notion while Tsunade burst into hearty laughter.

"He's got you there you old pervert" Tsunade said as she wiped a tear from her eye, "And to answer your question the reason I returned was simple, revenge"

Zare looked at her questioningly.

"When I heard Kushina had gone into labour, Shizune and I, decided to come back for the sole purpose of being with her and helping her take care of the baby, but after I found out that all of you had died except Naruto, I, I simply couldn't handle it. Those few months were some of the worst in my life, even worse than losing Dan and Nawaki" Tsunade said sadly, "But three months ago, Jiraiya contacted me saying that something big had happened in Konoha. At first I didn't care, but when he told me that it involved Kushina and the kids, I decided to hear him out" Tsunade took a sip of her tea, "When we met up, he told me that his spies in Konoha had notified him about the four visitors who looked like Chizuru and the boys seen around town with you Naruto and two others. At first I thought it was complete bullshit, but then we saw something in the town we were in that made us think otherwise"

"What was it?" Zare asked.

"We saw you, Naruto, two Uchihas and two wolves run through town then noticed a few ANBUs following you" Jiraiya continued, "The only reason we didn't ignore it was because we recognised the markings of the wolves as being from the Inugami Clan and decided to investigate. When we caught up, we saw you had killed the ANBUs and then we began to question you. You told us about the attempted assassination and about Danzo and ROOT and after that the lot of you dispelled. After that we contemplated heading back to Konoha to find out what really happened and got in contact with one of mine and your mutual spies to contact you"

"I remember that" Zare said, "He was insistent on getting all the details regarding the incident and about the Clan's well being. I was hesitant at first, but when he told me you had asked then I was willing to comply"

"When we got in contact with him again and got all the details, we knew we had to come back and sort this shit out" Tsunade said, "Konoha may have betrayed me, but after this whole mess blew up in our faces, I knew someone needed a beating. No one lies to me about my daughters and grandbabies"

"Surrogate daughters and grandbabies" Zare said with an amused look, "Let's not get too ahead of ourselves here"

"I don't care; I may not have birthed them, I may not have raised them, but I sure as hell care for them like a mother would" Tsunade said with fire in her eyes.

"I'm sure Kushina and Mina-chan would love to hear you say that. I know for a fact that they see you as their mother just as much as you see them as your daughters. You have no idea how much Mina-chan talks about you after she comes back from a long night at the hospital. It was her love for you and her desire to follow in you footsteps that drove her to become one of the most respected medic-nins in Uzugakure. In fact many of the patients that come from outside Whirlpool only do so because they could not find you" Zare said.

"I'm just that magnificent aren't I?" Tsunade said.

"Indeed you are" Zare said just as his food and coffee arrived. Thanking the young waitress, the trio continued with their meal.

After they had finished, Zare decided to switch to a more casual conversation, "So...How's the sex?"

Jiraiya sprayed a heavy stream of tea from his mouth, as he had just taken a sip, and started coughing while Tsunade's face twisted in absolute fury before rearing a chakra heavy fist and threw it forward. At the last moment Zare performed a Kawarimi with Jiraiya, who ended up getting the full force of the punch, while Zare laughed and jumped onto a nearby building, disappearing over the roof tops, Tsunade in hot pursuit.

"Ah, life and its simple pleasures" Zare thought as she tried to escape the Slug Princess's wrath.

Eventually they landed in a training field and the chase quickly turned into a Taijutsu match between the two. Each punch and kick was expertly countered or evaded by the other showing that they had years of experience under their belt. The battle lasted for over an hour until finally the two combatants called it a draw.

Panting deeply Zare looked at the worn out figure of Tsunade and said, "Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes"

"You don't look too glamorous yourself, brat" Tsunade replied.

"You do know I'm older than you, right?" Zare asked.

"You still look and act like a brat" Tsunade.

"At least I have a reason for defying the laws of nature, unlike you Miss Vanity Fair" Zare said.

"You calling me old?" Tsunade said with indignation.

"No, I'm calling you a liar" Zare said with amusement.

"If I'm a liar, than why don't you set an example and look your own age" Tsunade retorted.

"Oh please, if I looked my own age, I'd be a pile of dust. Very counterproductive don't you think?" Zare said causing Tsunade to burst into laughter before doing the same himself.

After the two of them calmed down, Zare looked at the busty blonde and said, "So...How's the stress?"

A few hours later, Zare returned to the hotel to find the entire clan plus Ryuji and Haruka.

"Naruto, Ryuji, so they finally let you two out eh?" Zare said.

"Yeah, we had to nag Mina-Ba-chan for over an hour until she gave up and set us free" Naruto said.

"You make it look like she had you kept in a prison" Sasuke said.

"Oh it was worse, much worse" Ryuji said.

"I'm sure it was" Zare said as he flopped onto the couch next to Akiba, "By the way, we need to decide your training regimes for the time leading up to the final exams and since they are one-on-one matches, it will be better to get a separate trainer for each of you"

"I wanna train with Kaa-chan" Naruto said immediately while raising his hand, but then started lowering it and said meekly, "If that's ok"

"Of course, Naru, I'd love to train you" Kushina said happily.

"Yay!" Naruto said with glee.

"I want to train with Tou-san, I want to train my Kekkei Genkai" Akiba said.

"Fair enough" Zare said as he hugged his daughter close and kissed her on the head.

"Obi-oji, can you help me train my Sharingan?" Sasuke asked.

"Sure Sasuke, I just need to go over the scrolls and see what we have to work with" Obito said.

"By the way, Ryuji, Haruka" Zare said.

"Hai, Makizaki-sama" the two replied.

"I know I promised you training, but until Suzume is deemed fit for duty, we will have to put it on hold. However, that won't mean you won't have something to do. As soon as Suzume is discharged from the hospital, you will help Minatsu with Suzume's physiotherapy. With the two of you at her side, she will bounce back in no time" Zare said.

"Hai, Makizaki-sama" the two of them replied.

"Wonderful" Zare said as he clapped his hands together and stood up, "Now if you don't mind, I wish to get some personal training done before the day is over. If anyone needs me I shall be on the roof"

Several hours later, Zare still had yet to return thus peaking everyone's curiosity.

"Where the hell is he?" Kushina asked in mild frustration as she looked around the roof.

"Looking for me?" Zare said as he stepped out from behind a tree (The roof has a small botanical garden on it).

"You are probably the only person on this planet who can evade the Uzumaki Dairokkan" Kushina said.

"And yet I wasn't even trying" Zare said.

Obito burst out laughing as he held his sides and said, "He got you there, Nee-chan"

"Zip it" Kushina said then turned her attention to Zare, "We were thinking of going to the hot springs for a dip followed by a massage and an evening of fun and games before ending it with a nice dinner, care to join us?"

"Sure" Zare said, "What about Mina-chan, not to mention Ryuji and Haruka? Surely it would be unfair to Suzume?"

"Minatsu said she would meet us up there, while Ryuji and Haruka decided to spend the evening with Zabuza and Haku, something about Zabuza losing a bet and treating them to yakiniku" Kushina said.

Zare rolled his eyes, "Figures, Ryuji makes an offhand comment, Zabuza takes it as a challenge, Ryuji makes it a bet and Zabuza sticks his foot in his mouth. I think the man has a secret foot fetish"

"Ahhhhhhhh~" Zare cooed as he immersed himself in the heated water, towel wrapped around his waist, "Bliss"

"You can say that again" Obito said as he raised his sake cup in tribute and took a sip.

Zare uttered another content sigh but stopped short as an unusual sight floated by, Naruto pretending to be a drowned corpse.

Zare prodded the blond who quickly rolled over and gasped for breath.

"Is there a reason you're trying to commit suicide?" Zare asked, "One would think your lovely confession to Ryuji would have banished any feelings of loneliness to the inner depths of the abyss"

"Huh?" Naruto said.

"Like Aki-chan said, 'The two of you make a lovely couple'" Zare said.

"Eh?"Naruto said, confusion building.

"So when can we expect you two to tie the knot?" Obito asked innocently

"EEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Naruto exclaimed.

"But I- Were not- I mean- I'm not- I- uh- we- uuughhh" Naruto babbled before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he slumped into the water.

"I think you broke him" Takashi said while Sasuke prodded Naruto with his back scrubber.

"Mission accomplished" Zare said with an evil smirk before snatching Obito's sake cup and downing the contents.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OVER THERE?" yelled a voice from over the bamboo wall that separated the men's and women's side.

"Tsunade?" Zare asked.

"Yes, now what the hell is going on?" Tsunade yelled.

"Naruto passed out" Sasuke said.

"WHAT!" yelled another voice that sounded like Kushina, "What did you do to my baby!"

"Zare-ji-san and Obi-ji-san kept pestering Naru making it look like he confessed to Ryuji" Hikaru said.

"And then Naru passed out from mental overload" Kaoru continued.

"You people are horrible" Minatsu said.

"We tease because we love" Zare said.

"Damn right" Akiba chirped.

"Speaking of love" Zare said before turning his attention to the far end of the partition, "JIRAIYA, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, PEEKING ON MY WIFE AND DAUGHTER!"

"WHAT!" all the women shouted.

"Tch, you discovered me" Jiraiya said as he emerged from his hiding place.

"Don't you 'Tch' me, I told you what would happen if I found you peeking on Mina-chan and Aki-chan" Zare said as he grabbed onto Jiraiya's hair in both hands pulled them apart and pressed his foot down on the apex.

"Ow, OWWWWW! IT'S TEARING, IT'S TEARING!" Jiraiya squealed.

"I don't care, this is your punishment!" Zare yelled.

Suddenly the partition exploded and an enraged Tsunade wrapped in a towel stood in its place.

"Hold it Tsunade" Zare said before turning to Jiraiya, activating his Mukogan, smiling sadistically and saying, "This bitch is mine" then dragged the Sannin off, by the hair, into the forest behind the hot springs.

After a few moments, they heard Zare fiercely yell out, "TENCHU!" followed by the sound of an explosion and Jiraiya's squeals of pain.

After a few seconds, Zare emerged from the forest, dusting his hands and said, "That takes care of one pest" then performed a few hand signs and stamped his foot on the ground causing a wall of earth to sprout, covering the hole Tsunade made earlier.

"Ahhhhhhhh~" Zare cooed as he re-entered the heated water, "Bliss"

Two hours later, everyone met up in the gaming room after the adults had received a very relaxing massage. After a rather entertaining and somewhat dangerous match of table tennis between Zare and Kushina, the group made their way to a local restaurant for dinner.

"There is nothing quite like a nice hot meal after a day of relaxation, eh Kushina?" Zare said.

"Can't argue with you there" Kushina replied.

Just then everyone's attention was drawn to the waiter that had arrived at the table, "Would Uzukage-sama care for anything else?"

"No, no, everything's lovely and the food is delicious, though could we get a few jugs of chilled water please?" Kushina said.

"At once" the waiter said as he rushed off to prepare the order.

"Was it just me, or did he look like he was about to have a heart attack?" Obito said.

"Oh you saw it too?" Zare asked, "I could have sworn I heard a few blood vessels burst when he heard the word 'though'. It amuses me to no end, how you can inspire fear in the hearts of so many yet almost none of them have any idea what you look like"

"And yet all I have to go on is the legacy of my predecessors. Though it still intrigues me that even though Uzugakure was able to rise from the ashes after the end of the Third Shinobi World War, though seemingly fallen from grace, our former might is still evident even to this day" Kushina said.

"It's most likely due to word of our Genins' exploits during the preliminary matches having reached the ears of the public" Minatsu said.

"That and possible word of your former associations with Tsunade seeing as how Kushina inherited her ludicrous strength and Minatsu's medical skills rivalling Tsunade herself" Zare said.

"Ah praise, clearly my husband wants something from me" Minatsu said as she turned her attention to Zare, "You wanna make me purr?"

Zare snorted into his drink before staring at Minatsu with wide eyes, a slack jaw and a furious blush as a result everyone except Naruto and Sasuke burst out laughing.

"I don't get it" Naruto said.

"Sorry Otouto, looks like your still too young" Hikaru said.

"But Aki-chan gets it and she's younger than us" Sasuke pointed out.

"And yet I am more mentally mature than both of you combined" Akiba stated.

"Ooooo, burn" Kaoru said with a chuckle.

Then Naruto turned to Kushina with a pout, wide teary eyes and whimpered out, "Kaa-chan, they're being mean to me"

Kushina swooned over the cute display and immediately grabbed her son in a loving hug after she mildly chastised Akiba and Kaoru. During the hug Naruto turned his gaze to his older brother and cousin and gave them an evil smirk.

"Oh he's good" Akiba mentally projected to Kaoru.

"Real good" Kaoru sent back.

When they reached the hotel, Zare and Minatsu were the first to disappear into their room for the night, while Kushina and Obito noticed several privacy Jutsus go into place.

"My, my" Kushina said then retired to her own room while everyone else went to theirs.

The next morning Zare had Naruto, Akiba, Sasuke, Kushina and Obito gathered in one of the training grounds and explained the training regime.

"Ok, since we have a little less than a month to prepare, the training schedule will be like this:

Every morning after breakfast, the three of you will meet me here for standard training, like we do back home, until lunch. After lunch you will meet up with your respective tutors and begin your personalised training focusing on whatever your tutor deems fit. Now in the interest of fair play no one is allowed to discuss one's personal training with anyone. Is that clear?" Zare said.

"Hai, sensei!" the trio replied.

"Excellent" Zare said with a smile, "Kushina, Obito, the two of you are free to go, we shall see you at lunch"

"Bye" Kushina said as both she and Obito disappeared in respective swirls of red and black.

"Right, I want the three of you to start with your warm-ups and then we will move on from there" Zare said.

"Hai, sensei" the trio said then began stretching.

Two weeks later, Zare was sat down against a tree while he watched his daughter and nephews run around the edge of the field.

"You know, for a Council Advisor, you sure do have a lot of free time on your hands" Zare said to no one in particular.

"When did you realise I was watching?" a voice said as a figure dropped down next to Zare.

"From the beginning" Zare said, eyes not leaving his students, "Now I know for a fact that you are not here for a casual chat, so to what do we owe pleasure of your company, Jiraiya?"

"Hahahahaha" Jiraiya laughed, "Nothing gets past you does it?"

"Of course not" Zare said with a chuckle, "But you still haven't answered my question"

"How's he doing?" Jiraiya asked in a more sombre tone.

"He's happy, if that's what you're wondering" Zare said as he glanced at the toad sage.

"*sigh* Sometimes I wonder just how different his life would have been if I hadn't left" Jiraiya said.

"Don't even go there" Zare said dangerously, "I may have partially forgiven you for not taking care of Naruto, but that doesn't mean you are absolved of your sins. You're lucky I'm a man who believes in second chances otherwise I would have cut you down the moment I laid eyes on you. In fact every single person in this village should bloody well bow down and worship me for not burning this village to the ground after the state I found Naruto in. The only reason I haven't done so already is because neither Minato nor Naruto would ever forgive me for doing such a thing"

"I'm sorry" Jiraiya said.

"Sorry doesn't even begin to cut it. Besides I'm not the one you should be apologising to and don't even think of saying it to Naruto. The boy has too big a heart to hold a grudge and has already forgiven everyone. You want forgiveness; you earn it through your actions" Zare said.

"That kind of the reason I'm here" Jiraiya said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Go on" Zare said.

"I wanted to see if I could get him to sign the Toad Contract, you know as a tribute to his father and as a form of apology" Jiraiya said.

"Well he's already signed a contract and you will need to get permission from the boss summons in order to get Naruto to sign it" Zare asked.

"Which contract did he sign?" Jiraiya asked.

"Dragon" Zare said plainly.

"Hmmm" Jiraiya said thoughtfully.

"ALRIGHT GUYS TAKE FIVE!" Zare called out to the trio, "Go through a cool down then come here"

A few minutes later the trio were stood in front of Zare, breathing somewhat heavily as their sensei got to his feet.

"Right the reason I called you here is because Jiraiya has a proposition for Naruto and I want your opinion on it" Zare said.

"Shoot" Naruto said.

"Right, the thing is Jiraiya wants Naruto to sign the Toad Contract like Minato did. Sort of like a family heirloom kind of thing, however the problem lies with the fact that Naruto has already signed the Dragon Contract. Now normally there wouldn't be a problem seeing as multiple contracts are allowed, but when it comes to the Guardian Clans, the rules are slightly different. You need to get permission from the Clan Head before you can sign another, so I want you, Naruto, to summon Seiryu so we can get permission. Now the reason I called all of you here is to also tell you that the summoning procedure is slightly different then what we're used to. Normally we would expend just enough chakra to contact our summons and they would fill the remaining cost for the summoning. However with the other contracts, the entire summoning is paid for by your own chakra so we will need to make time for training you in that aspect, that and I wanted to know if you wanted to sign the contract" Zare explained.

"Nah, I'm good" Akiba said, "Tsunade-sama had Okaa-san and I sign the Slug Contract last week, I don't want to look like I'm too greedy"

"Toads aren't my thing" Sasuke said, "But if there are any other contracts available, I wouldn't mind taking a peek at them"

"Sorry kid, Toads are all I got" Jiraiya said.

"Then I'm good" Sasuke said.

"So Naruto, you want to sign or not?" Zare asked.

"So, you're saying that Otou-san signed this contract too?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah and I would think he would want you to sign the contract" Jiraiya said.

"What about Chizuru-nee-chan, Taka, Hikaru and Kaoru-nii-chan?" Naruto asked.

"I spoke to them before coming here, they refused the contract" Jiraiya said.

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"They said they were content with the way things were, although they kept telling me to ask you" Jiraiya said with a light chuckle.

"Then I guess I shouldn't disappoint, I'll sign it" Naruto beamed.

"But first summon Seiryu, you need his permission" Zare said.

"Fine" Naruto said before cutting his thumb, running through the signs, placing his hand on the ground and calling out, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu"

The familiar sound of a summoning was heard and when the smoke cleared, the Azure and grey features of Seiryu was visible.

"Naruto, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Seiryu asked.

"This is the Boss of the Dragons?" Jiraiya asked, "He's not very big"

Seiryu raised an eyebrow at the comment then grew to his full 200 metre length and roared in Jiraiya's face.

"Honestly Jiraiya do you actually take enjoyment in sticking your foot in your mouth?" Zare asked, "I know you're into S&M, but to have a foot fetish as well! Clearly a trip to the resident psychiatrist is in order. Father Time has not been kind to your psyche"

Once Seiryu had calmed down, he looked Jiraiya over and said, "You are Jiraiya, the Gama-Sennin, are you not?"

"Umm, yes" Jiraiya replied.

To everyone's shock and surprise, Seiryu began laughing.

"So you're the Gama-Sennin eh?"Seiryu asked between bouts of laughter, "Is that old fart of a Great Toad Sage still spouting his senile nonsense and writing it off as visions? Hahahahahahaha!"

Jiraiya looked on, dumbstruck.

"How is the old relic? I haven't heard from him in almost a thousand years" Seiryu bellowed.

"Um, fine, I guess. I haven't been to the mountain in quite a while" Jiraiya said.

"Well the next time you see him, give him my regards, not that he'll remember mind you" Seiryu said, "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this summons other than a good laugh?"

"I was wondering if I could sign the Toad Contract?" Naruto asked.

Seiryu burst into laughter once again, "Go ahead my boy; it will give me an excuse to pester the old prune. He still owes me money from our excursions during our younger years" and promptly dispelled himself.

"Well that was weird" Zare said.

"Quite" Jiraiya replied.

"So where do I sign?" Naruto said as he rubbed his hands in anticipation.

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Hey everyone, what's up? Ok so here are the next two chapters for your pleasure. Yes know they are shorter than usual, but cut me some slack I have exams I'm sure you can understand.**

**So what can I say... Hmmm, well for one I'm really hungry right now but that's not important. So not much to say here, but I do have something to say in the next chapter so please read it.**

**Jutsu-Jutsu no Jutsu**

**Tenchu - Divine Retribution, an attack do fearsome and powerful that not even I can properly describe it... Yet.**

**Enjoy**


	15. The Final Test

Chapter 15

The remainder of the month went by without much hassle. Everyone was ready and eagerly stood in the centre of the arena where the third and final part of the Chunin exams was to be held.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, I would like to welcome you to the final matches for the Chunin Exams. Today we shall bear witness to the newest generation of shinobi display their skill and hopefully earn their promotion as Chunin. My name is Shiranui Genma and I shall be proctor for these matches" said a man wearing a bandana, standard Jounin attire and a senbon in his mouth.

"Quite an interesting group of candidates isn't it Uzukage-sama" Hiruzen said.

"Indeed it is Hokage-sama" Kushina said with a smile, "I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited at witnessing the potential these children hold. Kazekage-sama, what are your views on the candidates?"

"Will the candidates please make their way to the observation stands while Hyuuga Neji and Uzumaki Naruto please remain. You are the first participants of the first match" Genma said.

"A very interesting line up, I quite look forward to the matches. Though if I had to pick, I would say that I look forward to seeing the Uchiha and the Uzumaki girl in action. The Uchiha because of the Sharingan and the Uzumaki, simply because not much is known about them" the Kazekage said.

"We Uzumaki have a tendency to keep a low profile, especially after the revival of Whirlpool. Though I am a bit confused over your first choice, I don't see the name of any Uchiha on the candidate list" Kushina said, feigning ignorance.

"Of course there is" the Kazekage said, "I believe his name is Sasuke"

"Sasuke?" Kushina said, "Sasuke's not an Uchiha, he is an Uzumaki. My son to be precise"

"Your son!" the Kazekage said incredulously.

"Adopted son, if you wish to be technical, but I love him none the less" Kushina said.

"I'm afraid I don't quite understand" the Kazekage said.

"We had our two remaining Uchiha transferred to Uzugakure in the name of the Shinobi Trade Act. I felt our relations with Whirlpool Country had weakened quite a lot over the last decade and what better way to improve relation than to sent two of our most prized ninjas to join their forces. Later on we were told they wished to remain in Uzugakure and start a new life saying that Konoha had too many painful memories and that they had found a happier life in Uzu. Of course you can understand the surprise and pride I felt when I found out that they had been adopted into the Uzumaki Clan" Hiruzen said with pride in his voice.

"You would willingly give up you hold over the Sharingan?" the Kazekage asked.

"We are not commodities to be exploited and or discarded as one sees fit, Kazekage-sama. We are human beings and we do have a heart. Surely someone such as yourself could understand the fact that no ninja can put their full effort into serving and protecting their country unless they are truly happy with their home" Obito said.

"Umm, yes, yes of course" the Kazekage said.

Kushina then looked over her shoulder and said, "And how are my two bodyguards doing?"

"We are doing quite well, Uzukage-sama, thank you for asking" Zare said.

"Yeah, though I am slightly thirsty" Obito said, "Guess I forgot to pack a water bottle"

"That's why I remembered to pick it up for you" Kushina said as she removed said water bottle from within her robes and handed it over.

"Ohhh~ Thanks nee- I mean Uzukage-sama" Obito said as he took the bottle and quenched his thirst.

"Remind me again as to why I have the two of you to help guard the Kages" Kakashi asked.

"Don't flatter yourself Kakashi, it's a very bad habit" Zare said.

"Yeah, were awesome and you know it" Obito said.

"You cannot be serious" Kakashi said.

"You wanna bet, Cyclops" Obito said, getting up into Kakashi's face.

"Both of you be quiet before I decide to tell the Kazekage about the time the two of you were forced to bathe together during a mission when you were Genin" Zare said.

"You wouldn't" Obito said with a look of utter horror on his face.

"As I recall the two of you seemed to quite enjoy getting your backs scrubbed" Zare said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

The two former teammates were about to express their horror when they were interrupted by a loud sniff from the Kazekage and Zare could have sworn he saw a few droplets of red fly out from under that hat, probably a trick of the light.

"Is everything alright Kazekage-sama?" Hiruzen asked.

"Oh, yes of course, just a mild allergy" the Kazekage said.

"Hay season's a bitch isn't it?" Kushina said.

"Quite" Zare said as he turned his head to the side and sneezed, "Ugh, my sinuses"

Suddenly there was the sound of a loud explosion and everyone in the Kage Box turned their attention to the fight and saw a large dust cloud cover the arena.

"I do believe we missed something" Zare said.

As the dust cleared everyone was treated to the sight of Neji standing in the middle of a crater with Naruto nowhere in sight.

"Every time I see that seal, more and more anger wells up within me" Zare said as he laid eyes on the Seal upon Neji's forehead.

"It's despicable, I know, but unfortunately we have no power or say in matters such as this. I'm just glad my family didn't decide to take up such a practice" Obito said.

"How can you claim to be a clan when you brand members of your own family with something most people wouldn't brand their own pets with? You claim it is for the protection for your own clan, but it is essentially forced slavery. If it truly was for the protection of your own clan then wouldn't it be better to train them to be the best they can be so that you can rest assured that your family is safe while the seal acts as a failsafe? Yet instead not only do they inhibit their level of training, but you also brand them with a torture device, it's completely inhuman" Kushina said.

"The reason it is used to torture is because the main family fear the branch family would try to over throw them" Obito said.

"That's not family, that's politics" Kushina said eliciting a suppressed chuckle turned snort from Zare.

"Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!" Genma announced.

"Tell me Neji, what does fate have to say about your current predicament?" Naruto asked as he sat in front of the white eyed boy who had his head sticking out of the ground.

Neji remained silent.

"You keep preaching this B.S. about Fate and the Inevitable that you have blinded yourself to the truth" Naruto said.

"And what would that be?" Neji asked with a hint of scorn.

"That fate is not predetermined, it can change and we can mould it to be what we wish" Naruto said, "And if we are unable to do it ourselves, we can get help from those who care for us"

"What would you know about what I have been through?" Neji asked.

"Nothing" Naruto said flatly, "But I know that it is nonexistent to what I have been through. You have heard rumours about me being labelled as a 'Bad Seed' and what not, haven't you?"

Neji attempted a nod.

"What you didn't know was that for the first five years of my life I was hated scorned and spat on for reasons I had no knowledge over at the time" Naruto said in a very low whisper, luckily Zare's hearing was extremely sensitive so he was able to eavesdrop, "The day I turned five, I was thrown out of the orphanage. For days I had to scavenge for food, almost resorting to theft, hiding in the shadows from the villagers' hateful eyes. One rainy night I was so hungry I decided to beg for something to eat. As I approached the shop, I was spotted by the shop keeper and kicked into the middle of the street. I cried out in pain but no one came to help me, instead more people gathered and hurt me more. They kicked me, beat me and called me such disgusting names that a sailor would have started crying. Eventually I was able to get away, but not before someone kicked a rock that gave me a very nasty cut, I can still show you the scar. That night I ran and ran as fast as I possibly could, trying desperately to get away, but alas it was not to be. While running up a set of steps I slipped and fell back down, breaking my leg. At that point I gave up and decided to let them take my life. The pain and blood loss was finally taking its toll and I let myself fade away. When I woke up I didn't know where I was. Later I met the man who lived in that house and found out he was my uncle. He took me in, showed me love and told me about my family. Two years ago he told me why I was hated by the village, why no one would help me and instead continued to torment me. He told me about the fate my father had unwillingly placed upon me, only because he couldn't ask anyone else to it and then I was told I could be freed from it and I was. So don't you keep telling me about fate because I know for a fact that it is meaningless, if you don't believe me then I will prove it by freeing you from yours. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday I will remove that God forsaken seal from your forehead, that is a promise and I never go back on my promises for that is my Nindo"

After that Naruto got up, grabbed hold of Neji's collar and dragged him out of the ground.

"MEDIC!" Naruto yelled before disappearing in a swirl of yellow mist and reappearing in the observation deck.

"DUDE THAT WAS AWESOME" Kiba yelled.

"You shouldn't toy with your victims Naru" Akiba said.

"Wait, what?" Kiba asked.

"Tch" Naruto replied.

Everyone except Akiba and Sasuke looked at Naruto with shock.

"Dude that's cold" Kiba said, "Why would you do something like that?"

"I needed the bastard to see the error of his ways. Which do you think is better, blatantly overpowering him from the get go and having him write it off as a fluke or letting him have his way for a while before shattering his overinflated ego and really taking him down a notch?" Naruto asked.

"The idiot has a point" Sasuke said.

"Oi!" Naruto exclaimed while trying to swat Sasuke over the head but missed.

"Knock it off you two" Zare said from behind the group, "Besides you're up Sasuke"

"Shouldn't you be guarding the Kages?" Naruto asked.

"I am" Zare said and pointed to himself in the Kage Box.

"Kage Bunshin?" Akiba asked.

"Bingo" Zare said before blowing up in a puff of black smoke.

"Well wish me luck" Sasuke said as he made his way to the stairs.

"Oh yeah~ You got the Tranny-Neko with the puppet fetish" Naruto said.

"I'M NOT A TRANNY!" Kankuro yelled.

"THEN GET RID OF THE MAKE-UP!" Naruto yelled back.

"IT'S NOT MAKE-UP IT'S WAR PAINT!" Kankuro yelled.

"IT'S PURPLE! Never have I seen purple war paint ergo it is make-up. Now get going before you give me fleas" Naruto said.

Kankuro glared at Naruto who glared right back before trudging off down the stairs.

Once the two combatants were in the arena Genma addressed the two, "Is there anyone who has any issues regarding this match? If so speak now!"

Kankuro raised his hand.

"Oh hell no!" Sasuke barked, "I am not winning by default just because some metrosexual in a cat cosplay doesn't want to break a nail!"

"That it! I'm sick of you damn Uzu brats making these ridiculous claims about me" Kankuro yelled before removing the object on his back and unravelling it to reveal a large puppet.

"Hey! If he gets to use help then can I?" Sasuke asked Genma.

"Depends, you can't ask help from another person" Genma said, "Besides he's using a puppet, so technically it's a weapon not a person"

"Well mines a summons, is that going to be a problem?" Sasuke asked.

"Nah, go ahead, though I'm surprised you can actually use a high rank technique like that" Genma said.

"Oh you'll find out that we Uzumaki are just full of surprises" Sasuke said then cut his thumb, ran through several hand signs and slammed his hand on the ground while calling out, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu"

When the familiar puff of smoke disappeared, the platinum grey wolf with ash grey and charcoal streaks as well as the Inugami tribal markings, of Sasuke's summons appeared.

"Sasuke-sama, you called?" the Inugami asked.

"Sure did Arashi, I want you to help me put this 'Kitty Cat' in his place" Sasuke said.

"Of course, I was wondering when you would let me have a good work out" Arashi said before turning to face Kankuro and taking an offensive stance, growling fiercely while his red markings emitted a soft pulsating glow.

"Second match: Uzumaki Sasuke versus Sabaku no Kankuro. Begin!" Genma called out.

Immediately Kankuro began wiggling his fingers as the puppet began to twitch before charging at the duo.

When the puppet came too close, Sasuke threw a smoke bomb and smirked as the grey veil erupted around them.

When a gust of wind blew the smoke away, the only ones in the arena were Kankuro and his puppet.

"The hell you disappear of to huh!" Kankuro yelled as he looked around.

Silence was the reply.

"Come out and face me you coward!" Kankuro shouted.

"Coward?" Sasuke's voice echoed seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time, "Heh, heh, hardly. I am a ninja, a master of deception and lies. There is nothing wrong with simply hiding in the shadows and waiting for the perfect moment to strike"

"Sasuke stop toying with your prey, I thought I taught you better" Zare said.

"Tch, you're no fun" Sasuke said shocking everyone except Kushina, Obito and Zare because the voice came from behind Kakashi.

As everyone in the Kage Box turned to look they saw no one there, but turned back when they heard all encompassing voice of Sasuke's chuckling.

"Ah the pleasures of psychological warfare, I do love my job" Sasuke said.

"Where the hell are you!" Kankuro yelled.

Sasuke chuckled yet again and said, "Quite a self contradictory shinobi, aren't you. You claim to be a ninja yet you are loud and boisterous. If you ever want to survive in this world, you would be wise to learn to control that temper of yours" but this time his voice kept coming from different directions.

"Otherwise you might find yourself in a very sticky situation" Sasuke said with a smirk causing many weak hearted people to scream as Sasuke currently had his entire upper body sticking out of Kankuro's stomach, his Sharingan spinning in all its amusing glory.

Kankuro felt his entire body caught in a vice-like grip of fear as his brain tried to process his current predicament.

"H-How?" was all Kankuro could utter before the ground began to shake violently. Two metres or so in front of Kankuro the ground suddenly began to sink and spiral inwards. The hole continued to grow as a low deep growl was heard.

All the spectators watch in rapt fascination as a large black, canine nose, about the size of a watermelon, emerged from within. As the nose kept rising, it gave way to a platinum grey snout, then a head and finally the upper half of a body.

The now massive form of Arashi growled loudly as he brought his paws down on the ground to support itself and glared hatefully at the puppet master before taking notice of the puppet and swatting it aside with his massive paws. The puppet slammed into the wall where it shattered due to its detachable nature and collapsed onto the ground.

Arashi turned his attention back to Kankuro and leaned in close to the painted ninja.

Kankuro watch in horror as the Inugami's eyes spun into the Sharingan as both he and Sasuke said one single word in perfect, deadly unison, "Submit"

Kankuro yelled in horror and fear before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and collapsed to the ground unconscious.

Sasuke smirked before snapping his fingers once causing the entire area to blur before returning to normal. Gone was the image of Sasuke emerging out of Kankuro's stomach, gone was the demonic image of Arashi emerging from the ground like a demon breaking out of Hell. In its place lay the unconscious figure of Kankuro while Sasuke and Arashi stood a few metres away with pleased expressions on their faces.

"WINNER! UZUMAKI SASUKE!" Genma announced causing much of the audience to cheer loudly.

"Genjutsu?" the Kazekage asked.

"Indeed" Kushina replied.

"But how? I didn't feel any foreign chakra sources invade my system, so how was I able to see them?" the Kazekage asked.

Hiruzen began to chuckle warmly.

"May I, Hokage-sama?" Zare asked.

"By all means" Hiruzen replied with a smile.

"The answer is simple, Fuin Jutsu" Zare stated.

"Pardon?" that Kazekage said.

"Fuin Jutsu: Mugen no Bishin-kyo" Zare said, "I overheard the Hokage speaking to one of his Jounin instructors saying that they were having trouble teaching their students advanced Genjutsu because they were having difficulty grasping the imagery. So naturally I decided to offer my services. In Uzugakure, we have a special seal that lets anyone outside the seals boundaries view any Genjutsu cast from within without falling under its effects. Basically the seals create a dome that projects the imagery of the Genjutsu onto its surface allowing others to see"

"That's astounding" the Kazekage said.

"The Hokage was sceptical at first so I offered a trial run to be used during the Final Matches today free of charge. In thirty-two hours, the seals will fade and the dome will disappear. Should the Hokage wish for a more permanent solution, proper payment will need to be made" Zare said.

"You are charging for your services?" the Kazekage asked.

"Of course! Business is business after all. If you would like, I can have a scroll detailing the financial breakdown of my services delivered to you first thing in the morning" Zare said.

"I shall think about it" the Kazekage said.

"Of course and I do look forward to the prospect of doing business" Zare said with a smile.

Once the Kazekage turned his attention back to the arena, Obito leaned in close to Zare's ear and said, "Cash whore"

"What? I didn't quite hear what you said. Would you mind repeating it?" Zare said in a deadly voice as he tugged on Obito's cheeks with great force.

"Wow" Kakashi said softly as he took out a stick and began prodding Obito's still form.

"Will the three of you stop acting like a bunch of five year olds!" Kushina chastised.

When the information about the Genjutsu spread across the audience, many took it at face value and left it at that. However, some of the more perceptive spectators were left even more confused. The reason why? The shattered remains of Kankuro's puppet lay at the foot of a crater in the wall with rubble strewn all over.

When Sasuke and Arashi returned to the spectator area, they were greeted by attempted glomps from his two cousins while Shikamaru got tossed over the edge by Naruto's rampage.

"That was awesome" Naruto said.

"What can I say, I'm an Uzumaki we have a thing for being twisted" Sasuke said as she shrugged.

"Damn right" Akiba said, "You do realise you tossed Shikamaru over the edge, right Naruto?"

"Oops" Naruto said.

Suddenly they heard high pitched barking and turned to see an unusual sight.

"Is Arashi playing with Akamaru?" Naruto asked.

"I do believe he is" Akiba said and sure enough there was Arashi sitting on his hind legs, flicking his tail about while Akamaru jumped about like the white fluffy bundle of energy he was.

"That has to be the cutest thing I've ever seen" Akiba said before she noticed Kiba looked like he was on the verge of a heart attack.

"Relax, Arashi won't do anything to hurt him" Naruto said.

"How can you be so sure?" Kiba said frantically.

"Because I would never hurt a distant cousin" Arashi said as he used his tail to flip Akamaru onto his back and began nuzzling the puppy's stomach with his snout.

"He's got a point" Akiba said, "He may be a dog spirit, but he's still a canine"

After a few moments, Arashi planted a paw on Akamaru to stop his movements, yawned, leaned forward, used his jaws to grab hold of Akamaru by his scruff and tossed the puppy into the air before rearing up onto his hind legs and catching the puppy on the top of his head.

"Arr!" Akamaru barked happily.

Kiba fainted.

"That was priceless" Sasuke said.

"I'm glad you approve" Arashi said before lowering his head and letting Akamaru slide off onto Kiba's stomach after which the Inugami dispelled.

As the trio continued to watch the Temari-Shikamaru fight, they were impressed by the boy's strategic tactics but sweat dropped heavily when he forfeited at the last moment.

"That boy does not have a single ambitious bone in his body" Akiba stated.

"Fourth Match: Uzumaki Akiba versus Sabaku no Gaara! Will the combatants please make their way to the arena floor" Genma called out.

"Good luck Aki-chan. I hear this guys a real piece of work" Naruto said.

"Not to mention the happy go lucky Tanuki in his stomach" Sasuke said.

"Thanks boys, I'm actually kinda scared right now" Akiba said her voice shaking ever so slightly and gasped when she was hugged by both of them at the same time.

"*sigh* I needed that" Akiba said with a warm smile before it turned mischievous and said, "Watch this"

Akiba turned and began walking towards the main railing and instead of turning to go down the stairs; she suddenly disappeared in a swirl of flames and reappeared in the arena.

"How long, you think, she's been wanting to show that off?" Naruto asked.

"A very long time" Sasuke said.

When Gaara finally arrived, Akiba looked at him and said, "Damn Sandy, you took longer than I thought, who'd you vamp on this time? Was it tasty?"

Gaara gave her a slightly confused stare.

"Never mind" Akiba said with a disappointed sigh.

"Fourth match, Begin!" Genma called out.

Immediately Gaara sent waves of sand at Akiba, who disappeared in a shimmer of black mist just as the sand crashed down. Reappearing at the other end of the arena, Akiba eyed the red head cautiously as she began walking along side the wall.

Akiba dashed forward, full throttle, when Gaara sent more waves of sand at his opponent which Akiba dodged with relative ease and grace as she continued to run alongside the wall, sometimes on it.

Akiba was suddenly caught off guard when a stream of sand charged at her from the opposite direction and was forced to change direction, luckily her objective was in range and just as she was about to be inundated by sand, Akiba slammed her hands onto the bark of the tree and kicked off with her feet, well out of the sand's reach. The astounding thing about the dodge was that not only did Akiba evade the sand, but the tree shrivelled up as the water within was literally ripped out by Akiba.

As soon as Akiba landed, more sand surrounded her, but instead of dodging, Akiba started performing an intricate dance with her entire body and amazed the crowd as the water moved in response. Several streams of water wrapped themselves in a wide sphere around Akiba as they splashed, whipped and sliced through seemingly endless waves of sand.

The audience watched in awe as Akiba displayed a level of water manipulation that was unheard of.

"Wow she's good" Obito said.

"I try" Zare said with an air of flamboyance, "Though I had yet to teach her how to extract water from a locked source, looks like she figured that on out on her own"

"So this is the power of the Uzumaki Clan" the Kazekage said, "Very interesting"

"Actually this is the power of the Makizaki Clan" Zare said.

"I have never heard of any Makizaki Clan" the Kazekage said.

"That's because we are the last ones left" Zare said.

"But her name is Uzumaki" the Kazekage said.

"That is because I married an Uzumaki and allowed for my daughter the bear their name. My clan is old, broken and forgotten. I am but one man and have decided that when I die, my name shall go with me, but my blood shall live on through the veins of future Uzumaki" Zare said.

"That and according to Uzumaki Clan Charter you had no choice in the matter" Kushina said with a sly grin.

"Dammit Kushina! Do you always have to steal my thunder?" Zare said with a miffed expression.

"Of course! What kind of woman would I be if I didn't rag on my sister's husband every chance I got?" Kushina asked.

"Quite an unusual clan" the Kazekage said.

"Oh you think this is bad? When we first met, Onee-chan punched Zare through a wall" Obito said.

"Why?" that Kazekage asked.

"I do not wish to speak on the matter" Zare said diplomatically.

"Translation, I'm a good for nothing bastard" Kushina said.

"Can we please focus on the match, I want to watch my daughter go dominatrix on a walking sandbox" Zare said.

By now Akiba had pretty much gotten sick of playing 'Desert Rain' and decided to pull out the big guns. Relinquishing her control over the water, Akiba charged at the red head while Gaara sent two stream of sand at her from either side. When the sand came close enough, Akiba flipped onto her hands, tucking her legs in before kicking them up and out while releasing two massive blasts of fire from the soles of her feet scattering the sand in the process. Next Akiba bent her elbows, lowering her body, then pushed off hard, sending her up into the air where she spun herself and performed two consecutive flaming split kicks scattering more flaming sand in the process before she landed on one knee and leapt back putting distance between herself and the red head.

"Damn Sandy, you're pretty good especially considering I've yet to land a hit on you" Akiba said.

"As are you, Mother will be most pleased with your blood" Gaara said.

"Come again?" Akiba said.

"I said Mother will be most please with your blood. Now sit still so I can kill you and prove my existence" Gaara said.

"You want me to sit still while you try and sacrifice me to your Psycho-Mama? I don't think so!" Akiba said before shifting into a Taijutsu stance and performing kicks, thrusts and palm thrusts, all of which released wave upon wave of fire at the Suna Jinchuriki.

After a few minutes, Akiba leapt back and ran through several hand signs and called out, "Katon: Karyu Endan" before a bright yellow blast of fire exploded from Akiba's mouth and collided with Gaara's sand streams. Several seconds later Akiba cut the Jutsu and ran through another set of hand signs while the red streaks in her hair turned blue and she called out, "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu"

The ground suddenly cracked as a thick wall of water erupted from the ground and cascaded onto the still flaming sand resulting in a loud hiss and mist to be thrown up.

When the mist cleared, many cooed in awe while Zare raised an eyebrow at seeing the streams of sand had been turned into solid disfigured slabs of glass.

"Oh my" Kushina exclaimed.

"Wow" Sasuke said.

"Pretty~" Naruto said earning a smack from Sasuke, "What the hell was that for!"

"You were being an idiot" Sasuke replied.

"My Sand! What did you do to my sand!" Gaara yelled.

"I made it pretty" Akiba said before flinging two kunai at the glass slabs and charged head first at Gaara.

The boy was so preoccupied by the glass shattering that he failed to detect Akiba's fist before it made contact with his face. The raven head added insult to injury by exploding fire chakra at the point of impact sending both of them flying in opposite directions. While Akiba was able to perform an aerial back flip allowing her to land on her feet and skid backwards, Gaara was thrown against a wall hard forming a slight crater.

When the dust settled Akiba saw Gaara standing up with a crazed look in his eyes as the area of his face that Akiba had punched cracked and fell off.

"What the hell?" Akiba said as she stared.

"Yessss, Mother will be most pleased with your blood" Gaara hissed as his gourd began to disintegrate and envelop him in a sphere of sand.

When the sphere was completed, Akiba heard a muffled voice speak from within and an eye form on the surface of the sphere.

"Ewww!" Akiba said.

"That is very creepy" Naruto said.

"Glad I'm not down there" Sasuke said, "I'd probably freak out and shove a Chidori through the thing"

After a few moment Akiba smirked and took out her summoning gloves, "Oooo I am going to crack you like an egg" she smirked as she clapped her hands together, channelled chakra till the seals glowed, slammed her palms on the ground and called out, "Taira: Kokuyoseki no Yuwaku!"

When the smoke cleared, Akiba's battle hammer lay at her feet.

When she picked up her hammer, Akiba dashed forward while charge the hammer with fire chakra.

"Katon: Hoka Tsuchi!" Akiba called out as she swung her hammer and impacted it with the side of the sphere releasing an explosive wave of fire.

There was a yell of pain as the sphere was knocked aside several feet causing the audience to look on in eagerness, however the deeper baritone of a male but the higher soprano of a female.

Akiba's hands shuddered as she cried out in pain and dropped her hammer, looking at them after removing her gloves all she saw was red.

The sphere proved harder than anticipated so the resonance backlash from the impact rippled through her hands, rupturing several capillaries and short circuiting her nervous system. While she was unable to move her hands, Akiba noticed no blood fell meaning that the ruptures were sub-dermis so she basically had a very, very bad bruise.

"Shit" Akiba mentally cursed, "What the hell is that thing made from? Diamond? Oh God, the pain is unbearable, I need to finish this off or else I'm dead!"

With that, Akiba leapt back until she was back against the wall and removed a small metal disc from her weapons pouch. Closing her hand into a fist such that her thumb was under her index finger, Akiba placed the disc in the crevice and stretched her arm out such that it was pointed at the sand sphere and placed her other hand over her elbow. Next Akiba closed her eyes and concentrated while tilting her fist forward such that the disc was facing Gaara.

"Oh dear" Zare said as he uncrossed his arms.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asked.

"She's going to use 'it'" Zare said.

"Use what?" Hiruzen asked.

"Wait, you don't mean 'That' are you?" Obito asked.

"What! I thought you were going to teach her that later" Kushina said.

"I gave her the theory behind 'it' I didn't think she was actually going to use 'it'" Zare said.

"Right, everyone cover your ears" Kushina called out letting some of the audience hear then turned to Zare and said, "You I will deal with later. If there is any collateral damage you are paying for it, the Hokage just has to name his price and I will increase it by a factor of ten" then placed her hands over her ears.

Soon everyone had their hands over their ears and watched the next series of events.

Down in the arena, Akiba's concentration started to bear fruit. Yellow streaks appeared in her hair as she began collecting lightning chakra in her arm. As the build up increased, arcs started to jump of her arm and strike the ground to the wall with its familiar buzzing filling the air.

When the build up reached its limit, Akiba opened her eyes, glared at the offending orb and yelled out, "Raiton: Boryoku Daiho!" before forcing all that pent up energy to her thumb and flicked the disc out of her hand with all the force she could muster.

The effect was instantaneous, with a loud titanic bang, the disc exploded off her fingers and rocketed towards its target. The aim was slightly off so it simply clipped the sand orb and shattered a good portion of it before it impacted with the wall fiercely, bringing the whole thing down, luckily there were no spectator stands so no one was injured, and all this happened in less than a second.

"Oops" Akiba said.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND!" Kushina yelled as she grabbed Zare by the collar and shook him for all he was worth, "WHAT, IN THE GOOD GRACES OF GOD, MADE YOU DECIDE TO TEACH A THIRTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL A W.S.D.T! SHE COULD HAVE TORN HER ARM OFF! THAT'S IT WHATEVER PRICE THE HOKAGE ASKS FOR THE REPAIRS; I WILL INCREASE IT BY A FACTOR OF A HUNDRED. I WILL SLIT YOUR BANK ACCOUNT'S THROAT AND DRAIN IT OF EVERY FINANCIAL ASSET YOU POSSESS BECAUSE OF YOUR STUPIDITY!"

"W.S.D.T?"Kakashi asked.

"Wide Scale Destruction Technique" Obito said.

Kakashi, the Hokage and Kazekage raised an eyebrow.

Zare was about to reply when a loud deep voice yelled out, "AHHHHHH! BLOOD! MY BLOOD!"

This was shortly followed by a loud but distant explosion and glowing feathers falling around the arena.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**Hey everyone... again. Anyway f****irst things first, Very important question. Should I bring Minato back to life after the Sandaime Orochimaru fight? I have posted a poll on my profile so please vote, I won't be able to write the next chapters until after I get a proper opinion on this, since it will have a major impact on story and character development. **

******Back to business, Yay the Chunin Exams are over and the Oto/Suna Invasion has begun. A word of warning, do expect A LOT OF BLOOD, in the next few chapters as there will be a very, very pissed of immortal running about (No it's not Ero-Hebi). This will be the more darker aspect of my character so do keep that in mind. Ummm, I don't know what else to say... Ah yes an explanation for the Naruto/Neji fight, it was the same as in canon except Naruto used his own chakra to unseal his Tenketsu Points and he was holding back. The reason why? I could not, for the love of it, think of a fight scene. My mind completely locked up and refused to let me write that fight so I had to leave it as it is. Do tell me how you feel about the Sasuke/Kankuro fight, it took a while to plan out in my head so I apologise if it was a little short. Also what did you think of the Akiba/Gaara fight, I had a lot of fun thinking that up so I would love your opinion on it. I think that about it.**

******Jutsu-Jutsu no Jutsu**

******Fuin Jutsu: Mugen no Bishin-Kyo - Sealing Technique: Mirror of Infinite Graces. Original of mine. Sounds nice doesn't it.**

******Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu - Great Waterfall Technique**

******Enjoy**


	16. Important INFO Not bad news I PROMISE

**NEWS! NEWS! Glorious News!**

Hey everyone what's up? So heads up, No I am **not** discontinuing Naruto of Whirlpool, so there is no need to start frothing at the mouth in panic. On the contrary, instead I'd like to announce that I am going to start up another story that I will write along with Naruto of Whirlpool. It will be a pseudo-crossover style fan fiction that will let me bring in various characters from various anime and games to do with as I please, but they won't be much of a permanent fixture. It will even allow me to bring in characters from Naruto of Whirlpool for some real messed up shit; imagine Naruto literally talking to himself and **not** being labelled insane. I can also throw in some OCs from a crossover Fan fiction I wrote with my friends a couple years back, I might post it on FFN but I need to pull it off Facebook and clean it up first. Oh the chaos I can reap with this.

So I know this idea sounds weird, but I know how to make it work so be patient and keep a heads up for when it comes out.

Here's a partial BIO for the main OC.

Name: Sanzai Daichi

Age: 21

Hair: Medium length, Black, Spiky (Kinda like Minato's)

Eyes: Brown

Elemental Affinities: Wind, Water, Fire, Ice (Not a Kekkei Genkai)

Kekkei Genkai: None

Shinobi Rank: Kage

Chakra Level: High Jinchuriki

Look forward to it. XD

I will delete this post when I have the first chapter of the new story ready and the next two for NoW (oo this is an interesting anagram almost as interesting as the anagram for Uzumaki Representative in Konoha, U.R.K.! Lol!)


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